Indigenous Consultation Overlay
Status: Planned (data source TBD)
Issue: #150Bundle: Energy Bundle (gated behind metadata.energy_bundle = true on Business plans — see server/utils/requirePremium.js for requireEnergyBundle).
Goal
Surface First Nations, Métis, and Inuit consultation areas on the DLS grid so energy operators, surveyors, and regulatory teams can identify which traditional territories, treaty areas, and reserve lands overlap a proposed activity location before submitting paperwork.
Source candidates
The Indigenous consultation landscape is fragmented; no single national dataset covers all the relevant geometries. The shipped layer will draw from a small set of authoritative federal and provincial sources:
| Source | Coverage | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Open Government — First Nations Lands (Indian Reserves) | Federal reserve boundaries, Canada-wide | ESRI REST / SHP |
| Open Government — Self-Government and Settlement Lands | Modern treaty / land-claim areas | ESRI REST |
| Natural Resources Canada — Aboriginal Lands of Canada Legislative Boundaries | Title and reserve boundaries | WMS / GeoJSON |
| Provincial: AB Aboriginal Consultation Office, BC Consultative Areas Database | Provincial consultation polygons | varies |
| Operator-supplied traditional territory boundaries | Where shared publicly | varies |
Reserve boundaries are well-defined and stable. Treaty areas overlap with each other and with traditional territories — the layer needs to reflect that overlap rather than collapse it.
Customer-facing layer model
The catalog entry will likely break this into two togglable sub-layers, similar to how the CCS bundle splits Pore Space / Project Boundaries / Injection Wells / Geothermal Tenure:
- Reserve and settlement lands — solid polygon outlines from federal reserve and modern treaty sources. Stable boundaries.
- Consultation / traditional territories — semi-transparent fills from provincial consultation databases. Marked clearly as "consultation reference — verify with the consulting Nation directly."
What this layer is NOT
- It is not a substitute for direct consultation with affected Nations.
- It is not a representation of unresolved claims, sovereignty assertions, or legal title — only of the polygons published by the listed sources.
- It does not modify the operator's existing legal duty to consult.
The catalog entry copy and any documentation links must reflect this.
Acceptance criteria progress
- Source selection finalized (Indigenous Relations + legal sign-off)
- PMTiles archive built and hosted at
maps.townshipcanada.com/indigenous_consultation.pmtiles - Layer config:
app/config/mapLayers/dataCatalog/indigenousConsultation.js - Label layer + catalog entry in
app/config/mapLayers/index.js - Disclaimer copy reviewed with Indigenous Relations and legal
- Entitlement gating: requires
requireEnergyBundle(event)for any API surface, layer visible to all Energy Bundle subscribers
Related layers
- AER Wells — overlay context for energy operators
- Alberta CCS / Pore Space Tenure — companion energy infrastructure layer
- Existing Aboriginal Lands layer (
aboriginalLands) — base-tier federal reserve boundaries already shipped; this layer extends with consultation-specific geometry on top
Why this matters
Energy approvals in Canada have a duty-to-consult requirement. Operators routinely scope projects against reserve and treaty geometry by cross-referencing federal viewers and provincial consultation portals — a manual workflow that takes hours per project. Putting the published boundaries on the same DLS grid as wells and tenure removes the cross-portal lookup without overpromising what the layer represents.