Government reviews and program evaluations

These sources describe recurring challenges in infrastructure and program delivery, including misaligned timelines, fragmented funding structures, and limited opportunities for communities to carry out independent analysis before decisions are required.

Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Reports to Parliament on Indigenous infrastructure and program delivery
[View Auditor General reports]

Indigenous-led research and policy perspectives

These sources reflect Indigenous-led analysis on infrastructure and energy decision-making. They focus on community-defined priorities, locally led planning, and the need for decision processes that reflect the realities of northern and remote communities.

Assembly of First Nations — Infrastructure and Funding Policy Work

Analysis of infrastructure gaps, funding models, and the long-term planning challenges facing First Nations.
[View AFN infrastructure policy work]

Indigenous Clean Energy — Reports and Publications

Research on community energy planning, governance, and capacity-building.
[View Indigenous Clean Energy reports and publications]

National infrastructure and systems planning

These sources look at infrastructure performance and reliability at a systems level, and highlight the importance of coordination, planning alignment, and long-term thinking across regions and sectors.

Canadian Infrastructure Council — National Infrastructure Assessment
National assessment of Canada’s infrastructure systems and planning challenges. [View the View National Infrastructure Assessment]

How this informs NIERI’s role

Taken together, these reviews and assessments point to the same lesson. Infrastructure works better when decisions are well sequenced, grounded in local realities, and supported by clear governance and planning.

NIERI exists to support that decision space. The role is not to promote specific technologies or projects, but to help ensure that communities and their partners have the information, clarity, and time needed to make sound choices before commitments are made. The goal is not to slow progress, but to make sure decisions are right before they are locked in.

By focusing on coordination, decision framing, and governance alignment, NIERI helps reduce risk, avoid costly missteps, and support energy systems that perform reliably over the long term under real-world conditions.