Adoption is a program, not a signature — and the Framework is built so an honest first year is achievable. Here is the pathway, what it takes, what it costs, and where to start.
Every public Indigenous-benefit number traces to source records an independent assurance provider can re-perform — the posture that scrutiny of public claims increasingly expects.
The filed Record entry and community-specific report tiers answer repeated questions about Indigenous community benefit, procurement, employment, and equity posture from lenders, insurers, and owners — as a disclosure file, not a rights-risk opinion — instead of bespoke data requests each financing cycle.
Access-offer logs, challenge records, and solicitation counts document the state of Nation relationships with records — the evidence most often missing when the relationship record is questioned.
The Standard is a foundation for your readers' assessments, not a substitute for them: it does not assess Indigenous-rights risk, and it makes no claim about the suitability of any investment. What it produces is the readable, challengeable record of community benefit and opportunity.
Borrow the vocabulary openly (Pehta-Aligned, with enumerated omissions); take a complete first footing under the Standard (Pehta Entry Statement — every mandatory Topic at your disclosed Declared Coverage, no conformance claim, no external assurance required); claim conformance (Pehta Disclosure Statement) only when the testable conditions are met. Clause 1.5
Declared Coverage is computed per Topic and presented beside the metric it qualifies. Reporting at less than full capture, with coverage disclosed, is conformant; presenting a partial figure without it is not. Clause 5.8
Smaller Reporting Entities (proposed: under $50M revenue and 250 employees — thresholds under consultation, Question 24) may apply defined reliefs: a 60% spend-coverage floor, five-year retention, a simplified advisory mechanism, and the simplified filing template — each relief disclosed when used. Clause 1.8
A single project or portfolio, all Topics, Management Assertion. Prove the machinery on a contained scope. A conformance claim at RY-1 carries the label "management-asserted conformance — no external assurance" adjacent to the claim. Clause 5.10.2
Coverage expands; limited external assurance begins; comparatives start; transitional reliefs sunset at RY-3 close.
An Enterprise-level Statement joins the package at the highest assurance level.
Governance: a board adoption resolution, a named Pehta Disclosure Officer, and the Indigenous Advisory Mechanism (or a documented alternative). The 90-day quick-start is in the Manual.
Identity process: contract an independent AMDA operator. Your systems never hold identity data — a burden removed, not added.
Supplier data: Pehta-compatible clauses in contracts (drafting elements provided), plus the supplier submission workbook. Suppliers provide organized evidence; they do not become Pehta reporters.
Systems: an Indigenous supplier flag with an evidence-reference field, Nation tokens, a locked evidence folder. Most ERPs and HRIS need configuration, not replacement — the Standard is tool-agnostic.
Publication and optional filing: deliver Nation versions within the applicable period, lodge each version in the Registry where operational, and publish the Statement and signed Assertion. An entity may also file with the public Pehta Record. Filing is optional and does not affect conformance. An entity choosing to file must do so within 30 days of publication under Clause 8.10.2. Late filings are accepted with publication and filing dates visible; lateness alone is not a non-conformance. An entity stating that it has filed or will file must meet its stated period. Clauses 1.9.4, 7.9.10–7.9.11, 8.10
Free to use. Priced to file.
Reading the Standard, implementing it, and using its metrics cost nothing. There is no licence fee to use the Framework, no certification fee, and no fee of any kind for a Nation — access, challenge, and escalation are free to rights-holders permanently.
What is proposed to carry a fee: issuing a Statement into the Pehta Record. Under a model proposed for this Exposure Draft, a reporting entity pays a published filing fee when it files an issued Statement with the Foundation. The fee is scaled to entity size, identical regardless of the status filed or the outcome of any review, non-negotiable, and set by the Foundation's board on a published tariff. It buys a filing slot and the Record's upkeep — never an opinion, a status, or a conformance determination, which the Foundation does not grant in any case. Consultation Q33
Your other costs are internal: implementation effort (heaviest in year one), any tooling you choose, and — from RY-2 — the external assurance engagement you would procure like any other. The Aligned on-ramp exists precisely so year one can be honest without being expensive. Conformance requires no Foundation-affiliated platform, service provider, or software — no tool, consultant, AMDA operator, or assurance provider is designated — and AMDA operator qualification criteria will be published openly so any technically capable operator can meet them.
Three steps this quarter.
1. Read the Standard and the Manual's road map (Section 2). 2. Run the Implementation Readiness Checklist (IGM Appendix G) as a gap assessment. 3. Talk to the Foundation about your first-cycle plan and any sector-specific questions.
Where the Registry is operational for a Community, lodge a readable, exportable version containing only that Community’s relevant data. The named Disclosure Officer provides a dated scoping attestation. Preferred additional delivery methods remain available but do not replace lodging.
The Foundation’s reference interface must support lodging without buying a reporting product. Accredited operators must use the same published submission route, authentication, schema, and service levels. Until the Registry is operational for a Community, the standing-channel transition applies.
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISCLOSURE