Impact Benefit Agreement Database

The confidential nature of Impact Benefit Agreements means that a small proportion of the agreements in existence are publicly available. To collect agreements for this project, the researchers used an ad hoc approach. The Columbia Centre for Sustainable Investment’s (CCSI) Community Development Agreement database (CCSI, 2018) was an invaluable starting point. CCSI is an interdisciplinary research institution based out of Columbia University; it specializes in exploring and applying sustainable international investment ideas. CCSI’s online database includes agreements from Australia, Canada, Ghana, Greenland, Laos, Mongolia, and Papua New Guinea. All Canadian agreements were read, and their financial provisions added to the database, if applicable. Agreements from other nations were read if they regarded mining projects and a representative selection was added to the database. In addition, agreements listed in CCSI’s Community Agreement Repository, which the researchers were given access to, were reviewed. A representative selection of agreements pertaining to mining project were added to the database.

In addition to CCSI’s databases, IBAs were collected from British Columbia’s provincial website. A representative selection of all types of IBAs made between the province of British Columbia and the many First Nations communities in the province was added to the database.

Finally, agreements known to the researchers were added to the database. These included agreements between resource development proponents and municipalities, such as the Peace River Agreement.

Google was also searched using the keywords “Impact Benefit Agreement,” “IBA,” “Indigenous,” “Aboriginal,” “Community Development Agreement,” “CDA,” “Negotiated Agreement,” “NA,” “Community Benefit Agreement,” “CBA,” “Community Development,” “BA,” “Benefit Agreement,” and “Database” in various combinations. This search, however, did not yield any additional results.

Upon collection, agreements were added to the database. There are two major components of the database. First, agreements are recorded in the IBA Fiscal Instruments Database by IBA. In this document, agreements are grouped by sector and each agreements’ financial provisions are outlined. Relevant information, such as a link to the agreement if available, project type, the date of signing, the project and community signatory’s locations, and community population are denoted. After the agreement has been added to the Database by IBA, each fiscal tool is given an index number and recorded in IBA Fiscal Instruments Database by Instrument. In this database, the type of instrument, signatories, IBA title, project type, instrument name, and instrument rate are recorded. In addition, notes and whether the instrument is adjusted for inflation, if applicable, are recorded.

Additional Resource:
Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment (CCSI). (2018). Community Development Requirements: Domestic Laws, Best Practices, and Community Development Agreements Database.