Our Commitment to Reconciliation
Our approach to reconciliation begins with relationships: with Indigenous communities, with the land, and with the knowledge systems that have sustained that land for generations. Through our Living Story approach, we begin by understanding the people, histories, treaties, ecological systems, and lived experiences that define a place before shaping planning or design outcomes.
This means engaging Elders, Knowledge Holders, and trusted community voices early; recognizing each Nation’s distinct priorities; and ensuring Indigenous knowledge is not treated as symbolic input, but as a force that actively shapes decisions.
That commitment is already being put into practice.
Across our work, we are committed to creating opportunities for Indigenous suppliers, collaborators, and communities to participate meaningfully in project delivery. On nationally significant infrastructure and planning projects, including the Transportation Safety & Technology Science Hub, this has included advancing Indigenous participation through subcontracting, skills training, and employment opportunities, while ensuring reconciliation objectives are embedded into delivery rather than treated as separate from the work itself.
Our commitment extends beyond projects. Since 2024, B+H has participated in the Indspire Soaring Indigenous Youth Empowerment Gathering, connecting with students across Canada and introducing pathways into architecture, planning, and design. The impact of that work is best expressed by the students themselves:
“Soaring is genuinely a great event to attend. You meet people, you learn very helpful information, and best of all, you’re introduced to such a large community. You feel seen and it’s a great feeling.”
— Student testimonial, 2024 Soaring attendee
“I think I just got talked into being an architect.”
— Student testimonial, 2026 Soaring attendee
Our commitment also includes targeted scholarship support for Indigenous students pursuing futures in the built environment. As one scholarship recipient reflected:
“I kept reflecting on this scholarship… knowing that I had someone… who believes I should be here… as a voice for the land and those who inhabit it.”
— Transportation and Technical Sciences Project Award recipient
Across our work, reconciliation is embedded in how we approach land use, sustainability, climate adaptation, infrastructure planning, and long-term asset decisions. Guided by two-eyed seeing, we bring Indigenous and Western ways of knowing into partnership, combining community knowledge, climate data, GIS mapping, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and technical analysis to develop strategies that are place-specific, resilient, and accountable.
B+H is also advancing a firm-wide Reconciliation Action Plan in collaboration with Indigenous & Community Engagement, ensuring our commitments are guided by Indigenous leadership and expertise.
For us, reconciliation is not a statement of intent. It is a responsibility measured through action: the partnerships we build, the opportunities we create, the voices we centre, and the lasting social, cultural, ecological, and economic outcomes our work helps support.
Notes from the Field
In recognition of National Indigenous Peoples Day
Why Regenerative Design Is Essential for the Future of Cities, Communities, and Investments
To Catalyze a Regenerative Future
Jamie Miller co-led “Designing the Future Lab” at Common Ground Kauai Summit
2024 Common Ground Kauai Summit
Let Nature Lead: A New Approach to Urban Development
2025 CTBUH From the Ground Up Conference