The Pehta Foundation stewards the Pehta Framework from Edmonton, Alberta — Treaty 6 territory — with the support of Assembly of First Nations Resolution 56/2024. Its governing instruments require a majority-First Nations, arm's-length board, which assumes formal standards-setting authority upon appointment. Until that board is seated, stewardship rests with the Executive Director under the Foundation's establishment program, no final Standard issues, and no conformance claim may be made against the Exposure Draft. The Foundation will hold the escalation pathway for Statements issued under the final Standard.
"Metrics must resonate with our Nations first — before they resonate with anyone else."
— AFN RESOLUTION 56/2024, PREAMBLE
At its July 2024 Annual General Assembly in Montreal, the Assembly of First Nations adopted Resolution 56/2024 — Support for the Pehta Foundation and First Nations Involvement in the Pehta Framework. Moved by Chief Trevor John of Kehewin Cree Nation and seconded by Chief Kelsey Jacko of Cold Lake First Nations, the resolution was approved by consensus and certified by National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak on August 9, 2024.
The resolution recognizes First Nations as the authorities on what evidence of impact ought to be collected and how it should be reported, and it directs three things: that the AFN work with the Pehta Foundation to share information on the Framework with First Nations, governments, and stakeholders — including how Nations become signatories to the Foundation; that the AFN assist and advocate for funding for First Nations who choose to work with the Foundation in defining the standards and metrics; and that the Chiefs Committee on Economic Development engage with the Foundation and make recommendations to the First Nations-in-Assembly. The Foundation's work proceeds with that support, in continuing engagement with First Nations leadership.
Certified copy as adopted; AFN resolutions are also published by the Assembly of First Nations at afn.ca.
The Pehta Framework is stewarded by the Pehta Foundation, with the support of AFN Resolution 56/2024. The Foundation's governance instruments require a majority-First Nations board of directors; approval of any new standard or amendment rests with that board, following exposure, public comment, and redeliberation in which rights-holder submissions carry primacy. Every release is reconciled to stable clause identifiers through the published change-log discipline — no silent amendments.
The Foundation sets and maintains the Standard. Implementation platforms and advisory businesses in the Pehta ecosystem — including Pehta LP — are separate entities: they hold no role in standard-setting, no vote in redeliberation, and no access to escalation files. Where a challenge or escalation involves a client of any commercial affiliate, mandatory recusal applies and the matter is handled by personnel with no relationship to that affiliate. Conformance with the Pehta Framework does not require Pehta LP, Nisto, or any Foundation-affiliated implementation platform, service provider, or software; purchasing services from a commercial affiliate confers no preferential treatment, governance influence, or advantage in establishing conformance. Funding sources and conflicts registers will be disclosed on this page as part of the Foundation's annual reporting.
The Canada Model applies to claims about any Indigenous Community in Canada: First Nations (including self-governing Nations), Métis governments and registered communities, Inuit communities and land-claim organizations, and Nation-mandated collectives — the Identifier Register's admission scope. "First Nations-governed" describes the Foundation's governance: the AFN mandate and the requirement for a majority-First Nations board. The Standard's attribution, access, correction, and challenge mechanisms extend to all Indigenous rights-holders within scope.
The Foundation's incorporation, inaugural board appointments, bylaws, and conflicts-of-interest policy are being completed as part of its establishment program. Each instrument — including the director list and the proportion of First Nations directors — will be published on this page as it is executed, so that "First Nations-governed" remains a verifiable fact rather than a claim. How the Standard itself is proposed, deliberated, approved, and amended is set out on the Governance & Due Process page.
Aaron Lambie leads the Foundation as Executive Director, directing the standards program, the Exposure Draft consultation, and the Foundation's work with Nations, industry, assurance providers, and the capital markets. Reach the Executive Director's office at info@pehta.org.
Elders, Chiefs, Councillors, and Pehta Foundation staff at the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations offices, at the conclusion of a pipe ceremony.
The original draft of the Pehta Framework — version 1.0 — was the work of authors who had spent themselves on it. At the close of that drafting period, they asked for a pipe ceremony: to guide the Framework in a good way into the future.
It was held on 30 November 2023 at the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations offices, with Elders, Chiefs, Councillors, and Foundation staff present. It also marked the point at which the Framework came under the stewardship of First Nations — where it sits today.
Every edition since has been developed under that stewardship. Nine Nations have signed on. Consultation on the v1.5 Exposure Draft is planned for 1 December 2026 to 30 May 2027.
Resolution 56/2024 directs the AFN to share how Nations become signatories to the Pehta Foundation. These are the Nations that have — taking up the direct governance, insight, and input the Foundation is open to from any First Nation in Canada — alongside the Foundation's named technical advisors and the organizations supporting the work.
The Committee advises on methodology and market practice. It is advisory: it holds no standard-setting vote, which rests with the Foundation's board.
Support for the Foundation's work; support is not certification of any Statement, entity, or claim.
This Standard is First Nations-governed, and its governance is not closed. The Foundation invites Nations — leadership, technical staff, and economic development teams — to contribute at every level:
Comment on any part of the Exposure Draft. Rights-holder submissions carry primacy in redeliberation, and every substantive comment receives a documented disposition. How to comment →
Join the rights-holder governance of the Community Identifier Register — the body that controls admissions, disputed entries, and change processes — and the redeliberation of the Standard itself.
Direct your Nation's own Register entry, define community-specific disclosures under Topic PT9, and shape the standardized testimonial instrument your leadership will be asked to use. What Pehta means for your Nation →
To contribute in any of these ways, write to info@pehta.org with the subject "Nation Contribution".
The Normative Disclosure Standard, its companion Manual and supplier guide, and the release discipline that keeps every clause identifier stable across editions.
The proposed Pehta Disclosure Registry for Nation versions and correction records; the optional public Pehta Record; the rights-holder-governed Community Identifier Register; the standardized testimonial instrument; escalation procedures; and release change-log tools. A structured public dataset is not required in this edition. Clauses 7.9.11, 8.10 / Q35
Every Statement's challenge pathway escalates here. The Foundation verifies rights-holder standing by each Nation's own governance protocol, transmits challenges within five business days, tracks every response clock, and publishes an anonymized annual summary.
The Foundation does not certify entities as "Pehta approved," does not adjudicate Indigenous identity, and does not decide disputes between Nations. Conformance is a claim entities make and evidence tests; the Register records Communities for attribution and is never a determination of rights, title, or status.
Intake is governed, free, and independent.
Rights-holder challenge escalations, supplier data-quality concerns, and reports of misused conformance claims all come through one door: info@pehta.org, subject line "Escalation". Submissions are acknowledged within two business days, accepted in any language, and handled under the submitting Community's confidentiality directions.
Intake is staffed independently of any commercial affiliate of the Pehta ecosystem, with mandatory recusal wherever a financial or engagement relationship exists with the entity concerned.
One address reaches everything.
General, consultation, media, Register, escalation: info@pehta.org
Location: Edmonton, Alberta — Treaty 6 territory.
The Foundation accepts correspondence in any language and will arrange translation. French editions of the Framework are planned. This site is available in English and French.
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISCLOSURE