how reciprocity works.
For Reciprocity Neighbours
Reciprocity payments are tied to the value of property and business success, creating a growing source of revenue to support Indigenous-led initiatives that matter most to communities.
Just 1%, contributed by many, amounts to
real. change.
- 1Visit the Reciprocity Calculator Tool and type in your address.
- 2
The tool informs you of your Trust area, your recommended Reciprocity payment, and which First Nation(s) will receive your payment.
- 3The tool calculates your suggested Reciprocity payment based on your home’s latest assessed value, your monthly rent, or your business size.
- 4
Contributing homes are recognized as r.homes, and contributing businesses as r.businesses, based on the number of years you’ve been part of the community.
You can be part of this.
We all benefit from living on Indigenous lands, and this comes with responsibilities. Responsibility, within many Indigenous worldviews, is understood not as a burden, but as symbiotic care for all life. Since long before colonial legal systems, Indigenous Nations have upheld laws that recognized the interconnectedness of people, land, and community wellbeing. Rooted in these Indigenous legal and cultural traditions, Reciprocity Trusts is one way to begin honouring that and stepping into meaningful relationships with our neighbours.
Making payments through Reciprocity Trusts provides an opportunity for property and business owners, renters and event planners to start saying thank you by returning wealth, a little every year, and creating a direct and ongoing Indigenous-owned revenue stream that is independent of federal or provincial governments, and increases over time as land values increase.
This is what reciprocity looks like in practice.
Not just land acknowledgement. Not just a policy. It’s a canoe journey, a camas garden, a place for kids to play.
Built by Nations, funded by neighbours who want to turn reconciliation into action.
What happens next?
- A tax deductible receipt that you can clam when you file your tax return.
- Recognition as an r. home, r. business, or r. event, including placement on the Reciprocity Web Map (with your permission).
- Nifty swag for your front door, yard or event, making Indigenous rights more visible in your neighbourhood.
- Connection with the Reciprocity community — online, and in real life — including connections to Reciprocity Nations, your Reciprocity Trust, and invitations to Reciprocity events near you.
- An annual report to keep you informed and to let you see where your Reciprocity dollars are going.
- Stewardship support to help you restore the ecological and cultural function of your back (or front, or side) yard.
- Info on other things you can do to support and recognize Indigenous lands and rights in your neighbourhood.
For Indigenous Nations
Regional Reciprocity Trusts are established at the pace of trusting relationships, shaped by local Indigenous principles and priorities and governed entirely by the Nations who join them.
When a Nation appoints a Trustee to a Regional Trust, the decisions about how funds flow and what priorities they support stay where they belong: with the community. The Trust provides a reliable, ongoing, and independent revenue stream that grows as land values increase — without federal or provincial strings attached.
It is our vision that over time, Indigenous-led Reciprocity Trusts will – slowly, patiently, and relationally – extend across what is now called “Canada”.