What is the FSMA?
The First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act is federal legislation that creates four First Nation institutions: First Nations Tax Commission; First Nations Financial Management Board; First Nations Finance Authority; and First Nations Statistical Institute. The FSMA will reduce two of the barriers faced by First Nations in attracting investment to their lands. The barriers being: 1. It is three times more expensive to finance infrastructure on First Nation lands. 2. It is four to six times more expensive to make an investment on First Nation lands because of poor investor confidence; unreliable, unavailable, or non-comparable statistical and financial information; and scarce investment facilitation expertise. The FSMA addresses the first barrier by allowing First Nations to finance their infrastructure on similar terms to other jurisdictions in Canada. The FSMA addresses the second barrier by improving investor certainty and confidence, improving the quality of statistics,
