Indigenous Relations & Engagement

Relationships first. Results that last.

Practical Indigenous inclusion for energy, infrastructure and industrial projects

Built on action, not words, with over 30 years of experience in Canada’s energy sector.

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Four pillars

The right partners, the right opportunities

Lasting outcomes start with building relationships with the right partners. Bridging the Gap's work rests on four pillars. Together they guide the search for opportunities that align community priorities with industry needs, and keep the work meaningful.

Economic Development

Business partnerships and procurement that create real economic participation.

Community Engagement

Respectful, ongoing relationships built on early and honest engagement.

Community Investment

Investments that support priorities communities set themselves.

Workforce Inclusion

Training and career pathways for Indigenous people, from youth to the trades.

About

Scott Lloyd

I spent more than 30 years in Canada's energy sector, much of it on the commercial side: building client relationships, running major accounts, and helping projects get delivered. Along the way I kept seeing the same gap. Too often, companies weren't building the kind of relationships with Indigenous communities that lead to lasting opportunities.

I moved into Indigenous inclusion work to help close that gap, developing and implementing a major energy services company's first Indigenous Inclusion Strategy in Canada. In 2020 I founded Bridging the Gap Consulting to do that work full time, from Campbell River, BC.

Because I've sat on both sides of the table, I understand what a project needs to succeed, and what it takes to build trust. My job is to help companies earn it.

That's what Pathways: Indigenous Futures is about. Indigenous students in Grades 9 to 12 tell us which careers they want to explore, and those are the employers and schools that come to the table.

Services

Why it matters

  • Build sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous communities, based on trust and transparency
  • Give leadership and staff a shared understanding of the company's approach and clear responsibilities
  • Respond effectively to client Indigenous inclusion expectations in RFPs, leading to stronger outcomes
  • Stay proactively engaged in Indigenous inclusion across energy, infrastructure and industrial work

Indigenous Inclusion Strategy

Core service

A complete strategy, built in stages and shaped to each company, covering five areas.

  • Leadership and GovernanceLeadership alignment, policy and clear responsibilities
  • Cultural AwarenessTraining for field and corporate teams
  • Economic and Contracting InclusionProcurement, partnerships and Indigenous participation in RFPs
  • Workforce InclusionPathways into training, employment and the trades
  • Community Engagement and InvestmentLasting relationships and support for community priorities

Progress is tracked and reported so it stays visible to leadership.

Reconciliation Action Plans

Developing credible, action-focused RAPs built to current Indigenous-led expectations in BC, with clear commitments, accountability and reporting.

Indigenous Youth Career Gatherings

The Pathways model, designed and facilitated end to end, from the first planning conversations to post-event reporting.

Projects

Pathways: Indigenous Futures

A Gathering for Indigenous Youth

Every student deserves to see a future built for them.

Pathways isn't a typical career fair. Students shape the day, so they see the careers they're interested in, and some they never imagined. Colleges, universities and employers stand side by side, from first program to first job. And headline Indigenous artists share how they found their own path, because when students hear it from someone they admire, they start believing they can find theirs.

Guided by four principles

Nation-guided

Each gathering is designed to be shaped with participating Nations.

Youth voice

Students decide what they want to explore.

Real relationships

Face-to-face connections, not brochures.

Shared responsibility

Partners show up, not just sign on.

What it buildsStudents who leave with a name, a number and a next step, and a region that keeps its young people.

Gatherings

Fort St. John region, BC

2025 and 2026

Delivered

Pathways was created by Bridging the Gap's founder, who chairs its organizing committee and delivers it for a client in partnership with Northern Lights College.

The 2026 gathering brought together over 100 Indigenous students from across the region, with employer and education exhibits, a cultural opening, lunch, and headliners who share their own stories. Past headliners include Drezus and Notorious Cree.

Burns Lake, BC

Spring 2027

Upcoming

Bringing the Pathways model west. Delivered for a client in partnership with a regional college, the gathering will be shaped with local First Nations, school districts and education partners so it reflects what students in the region want to explore.

Smithers, BC

Date to be confirmed

In development

A second gathering in the Smithers area, in partnership with a regional college, so students in the region can attend within a reasonable drive.

Contact

Let's talk about your project

Scott Lloyd, Bridging the Gap Consulting

Campbell River, BC