More than 120 urban reserves have been established across Canada under the federal Additions to Reserve (ATR) Policy and Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) framework agreements, and Indigenous Services Canada explicitly characterizes urban reserves as a means of providing First Nations with “economic opportunities that are generally unavailable in more remote areas.” This operational rationale is closely aligned with the substantive purpose of Call 44: settlement for loss of economic use through Indigenous land bases on or near urban and commercial centres. Saskatchewan has 54 urban reserves – more than any other province – including Asimakaniseekan Askiy in Saskatoon (Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, established 1988 as the first commercial urban reserve in Canada). Sen̓áḵw on Squamish Nation reserve land in Vancouver, the Tsuut’ina Nation’s $4.5 billion business complex adjacent to Calgary, the Naawi-Oodena project at the former Kapyong Barracks site in Winnipeg, the Long Plain First Nation urban reserves in Winnipeg and Portage La Prairie, and the Jericho Lands and Heather Lands partnerships in Vancouver are among the largest contemporary examples.
No federal program currently exists that specifically identifies urban or commercial-centre lands as a pre-designated category for settlement of land claims for loss of economic use, in the proactive form Call 44 contemplates. Existing urban reserves are created reactively – through TLE settlements, Specific Claims settlements, comprehensive land claims, or, in a small number of cases, through court-ordered restoration of historically taken reserve land. Once an urban land base is restored or acquired, however, the scale of Indigenous economic development that becomes possible is substantial: when complete in approximately 2032-2033, Sen̓áḵw alone will provide approximately 6,000 rental homes on 10.5 acres adjacent to downtown Vancouver and is forecast to generate over $10 billion in revenue to the Squamish Nation over the coming decades. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada’s October 2025 ATR Policy reform engagement (detailed in the reports of Calls 42 and 43) identifies First Nations priorities for ATR reform but does not include a specific commitment to proactive identification of urban or commercial-centre lands as a settlement category.
