By Leonard Buffalo | North of Polite
October 7, 2026
A business can have the skills, the equipment and the determination. It still needs customers.
The Métis Nation of Ontario is creating a new Métis Business Registry, inviting businesses majority-owned by MNO citizens to register. Its October 5 announcement identifies a practical possibility: connecting Métis entrepreneurs with buyers.
According to MNO, registered businesses may have opportunities to supply goods and services to its Secretariat, including local purchasing through more than 30 offices and owned properties across Ontario. The registry is also intended to support referrals through MNO’s partner network.
That could help business owners become visible to potential customers. But an entry in a registry is not a purchase order, and the announcement does not promise contracts.
The opportunity—and the questions
For a small business, knowing where opportunities exist can be a useful first step. The next steps matter just as much: understanding the requirements, competing for work and getting paid.
MNO’s announcement does not specify a purchasing budget, explain how suppliers will be selected or report contracts awarded through the new registry.
Those are reasonable questions for a follow-up. So is whether opportunities reach smaller communities as well as larger centres.
The measure of success should eventually be more than the number of names collected. It should include whether participating businesses receive paid work and build lasting customer relationships.
How to take part
Business owners may be asked for MNO citizenship-card information, website or social-media links, and business-registration documents where applicable.
Registration information is available through MNO’s announcement. Questions can be directed to EconomicDevelopment@metisnation.org.
For now, this is an invitation to connect. Whether those connections become customers is the story worth following.
Source: Métis Nation of Ontario, October 5, 2026. Potential benefits discussed here are analysis, not confirmed results.
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