York Factory First Nation and Canada's Manitoba Hydro have signed a Process Agreement for the Conawapa hydroelectric station which sets out a process and funding mechanism for York Factory's participation in planning and consultation on the development of Conawapa, including project description, environmental and regulatory matters, training, employment and business opportunities, and the negotiation of adverse effects arrangements.
‘[This] agreement will ensure our members have the resources to effectively participate in planning for Conawapa. This agreement also enables us to have the resources and information necessary to make independent decisions to ensure that our First Nation will benefit and to ensure the project is environmentally acceptable to our people,’ said York Factory Chief Ted Bland.
Consistent with Manitoba Hydro’s approach of working closely with First Nations to plan and develop new generating projects, Conawapa Process Agreements are being planned with Fox Lake First Nation and the Cree Nation Partners comprised of Tataskweyak Cree Nation and War Lake First Nation.
With a net capacity of 1250MW, the $5B Conawapa Generating Station will be Manitoba’s largest hydroelectric project. The project is expected to create an estimated 13,000 person years of direct and indirect employment over its 8 to 8.5 year construction period.
The Conawapa site is located in northern Manitoba on the Nelson river, some 90km downstream of Gillam.