TERRACE – Eligible voters are deciding whether to ratify the Kitsumkalum Treaty and self-government constitution.

Voting options are online, telephone or at the in-person poll on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.

In June 2024, the chief negotiators from all three parties — Kitsumkalum First Nation (Kitsumkalum), the Government of Canada, and the Government of British Columbia — initialled the Kitsumkalum Treaty: A Living Agreement. This milestone in the treaty negotiations process signalled the conclusion of substantive negotiations, subject to certain caveats, such as ongoing legal and technical review and consultation with neighbouring First Nations. The legal and technical review of the treaty concluded in June 2025, resulting in the ratification version of the Kitsumkalum Treaty.

Ratification is the approval process that treaties must go through before they can come into effect. The first step in this process is the Kitsumkalum ratification vote. To ratify, the treaty and self-government constitution require a double majority vote outcome by Kitsumkalum eligible voters. This means more than 50% of eligible voters on the voters list must cast a ballot, and more than 50% of those voters cast a ballot in favour of the treaty and constitution.

Should eligible voters vote in favour of ratifying the Kitsumkalum Treaty and constitution, B.C. and Canada will undergo their own respective ratification approval processes. This includes passing provincial, and then federal treaty implementation legislation to bring the Kitsumkalum Treaty into law. If ratified by all three parties, the effective date for the treaty is anticipated for 2028.

Kitsumkalum entered treaty negotiations in the early 1990s. Working closely with the BC Treaty Commission, an independent facilitator of the B.C. treaty negotiations process, negotiators for Kitsumkalum, Canada and B.C. reached an agreement in principle (AIP) in 2015. The AIP established agreement on the substantive elements to be detailed in the completed treaty.

In the years since, Kitsumkalum, B.C. and Canada have engaged with local and regional government, industry, interest holders and people in the region on various elements of the proposed treaty. B.C. and Canada are also continuing Crown consultation with neighbouring First Nations, including those with overlapping territories.

Engagement has provided opportunities for people to share their needs and shape treaty provisions. As a result, the ratification version of the Kitsumkalum Treaty reflects governments’ and the Nation’s work together on shared regional priorities established in the 2015 AIP.

If ratified, the treaty would:

• ensure Aboriginal rights are recognized and not extinguished for Kitsumkalum, and describe the parties’ agreement on the exercise of rights;
• clarify that the treaty does not infringe or extinguish the rights of neighbouring First Nations;
• lay out negotiated approaches to self-governance and law-making authorities, and confirm lands to be owned and governed by Kitsumkalum;
• provide for continued recreational access on public treaty lands;
• address existing interests and tenures on proposed treaty lands (interest holders have been engaged on the proposed approach to their tenure or interest); and
• formalize consultation and opportunities for co-management of lands and resources within the First Nation’s traditional territory.

Once the ratification vote is complete, there will be further opportunities for regional and public engagement as well as ongoing consultation with neighbouring First Nations.

Learn More:

More information, including the ratification version of the Kitsumkalum Treaty, is available here:https://engage.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc/engagement/kitselas-and-kitsumkalum-treaty-negotiations

Treaty and enrolment information for eligible voters is available here: https://www.kitsumkalumtreaty.ca/