Navigating the Alberta Government’s Credible Assertion Process
What is the Alberta Government’s Métis Credible Assertion process?
In 2019 the Alberta Government first established the Credible Assertion process as a means to determine whether individual Métis groups formally hold Métis Aboriginal Rights. Obtaining a credible assertion designation is not simple, and as of June 2025, only two groups, the Fort McKay Métis Nation and the Lac Ste. Anne Métis have been recognized, though many others are in process.
The Importance of having your Métis group recognized by the Alberta Government
The formal recognition of Métis rights by the provincial government triggers several provincial commitments and generally, this means that consultation with your group will be more rigorous, and governments (and/or project proponents) will be expected to provide accommodations when your Métis rights are impinged. Put another way, Credibly Asserted Métis communities generally will be in a better position to protect their Aboriginal Rights than communities that have yet to be recognized.
How do I get my Métis community formally recognized?
As noted above, the credible assertion process is complex and evolving, with only two Métis groups having successfully navigated the process since it was introduced in 2019. WSSS has supported a number of communities with their submissions (including the successful Fort McKay Métis submission), and we believe that if Métis community’s take these three initial steps, they will be well positioned to meet the Alberta government’s criteria for Métis credible assertion:
First, an applicant community will need to provide evidence that a “historic Métis” community existed in a specific geographic area prior to the date of “effective control” (for the Alberta government, that date is 1900 for Treaty 6 and Treaty 8 territory and 1874-1878 for Treaty 7 territory).
There are a few different ways to provide evidence, but one of the more compelling ways is to draft an historical narrative which tells your Métis community’s story. This story will need to include evidence of when your community experienced ethnogenesis (when it became recognized as its own entity separate from other local First Nations and Métis groups), evidence of who were members of the historic community (genealogical proof), and evidence of geographical location demonstrating where your historic Métis community lived.
The evidence used to tell this story must be both credible and verifiable. This includes using primary source documents such as historical records, genealogical records (scrip, census etc.) oral histories and other published materials. Supporting material should also be carefully curated, as providing superfluous information to the government may slow down the credible assertion review process (government employees will review every piece of provided information).
Second, your organization will need to provide evidence that you represent a contemporary Métis community. This means that you will have to provide community bylaws explaining how your organization represents its members. Further, you should also provide a membership list with proof that your current members are “Métis.” Finally, you will need to provide evidence that your membership authorizes your organization to represent their Aboriginal rights (this can be done through a signed affidavit or the like).
Third, your organization will need to provide proof that your contemporary members or a significant percentage thereof, are demonstrably connected to the local historic community. This is most easily done genealogically where the applying community shows that the families of contemporary members are connected to members of the historic Métis community.
Who can apply for recognition?
In short, any Métis collective that feels they meet the Alberta government’s Métis Credible Assertion Process and Criteria can apply for recognition. The application process is rigorous and requires a deep organizational and community support. The Alberta government is silent what type of organization should apply besides noting that the applicant should be incorporated under the Society’s Act. We have supported independent Métis groups, Métis Nation of Alberta Métis Locals and Otipemsewak Métis Government District Councils to file Credible Assertion applications.
The Alberta government has created the Métis Credible Assertion Capacity Funding Grant to help communities to recover funds used to support their credible assertion claim up to $100,000.
How can we help?
Willow Springs Strategic Solutions has a proven track record in assisting Métis groups through the credible assertion process. In collaboration with WSSS, Fort McKay Métis Nation became the first Métis community to successfully “credibly assert” its Métis Aboriginal rights in February 2020. Since then, we have worked with several other groups both within, and outside, the OMG in preparing their Credible Assertion submissions. In drafting these submissions, our team of researchers has prepared in depth community histories based on archival documents such as Hudson Bay Company journals, federal and provincial government documents, firsthand travel accounts, oral histories, missionary accounts and more. We have also prepared extensive community genealogies using community held records, scrip and census records, birth and baptism records, and oral histories. While the submissions themselves are confidential, elements of these community specific submissions have been published in Fort McMurray: Historic and Contemporary Rights-Bearing Métis Community; The Fort McKay Métis Nation: A Community History and Wahkotowin, Keemooch, and Home: A History of the Conklin Métis Community, 1886-2020.
If you have any questions about the Credible Assertion Process please do not hesitate to reach out to us at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions with an email to credibleassertion@willowspringsss.com or by phone, 780-381-9168.
Men navigating scows through the Cascade Rapids, circa 1900. Credit: Julian Mills, Fort McMurray Historical Society, P2008.280.1.