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Government of Canada Celebrates Launch of the $5-Billion Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program

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NORTH VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 21, 2025 /CNW/ – Indigenous Peoples, communities and businesses are building a more sustainable and resilient natural resource sector in Canada. The Government of Canada is supporting Indigenous participation in the natural resource economy, helping to eliminate historic barriers and open doors for Indigenous groups to share in the economic benefits of resource and energy development.

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, celebrated the launch of the $5-billion Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program while announcing an additional $6.2-million investment in seven Indigenous-led energy and forestry projects in British Columbia through the Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships (INRP) program.

The Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation was launched in December and is open for business, supporting Indigenous groups in benefiting from the economic opportunities of natural resource development. It will provide up to $5 billion in Indigenous loan guarantees to help unlock access to the capital needed for Indigenous groups to pursue ownership in natural resource and energy projects.

Loan guarantees work by providing a guarantee that the debt will be repaid by the guarantor (the federal government) should the borrower be unable to repay, which lowers the interest rate on the loan. Loan guarantees will help enable Indigenous communities and businesses to access private financing and to become meaningful equity partners and owners of natural resource and energy projects.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada are among some of the most innovative leaders in the natural resources sector. The Government of Canada has been promoting the economic participation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples for years by providing tangible support for Indigenous-led projects. Minister Wilkinson took the opportunity today to also announce additional INRP funding for projects in B.C.

The INRP program is helping Indigenous communities across Canada to secure economic opportunities from projects and become equal partners in the resource economy. With the investments made today, for example, Fort Nelson First Nation in Northern B.C., is developing the Tu Deh-Kah (TDK) project, a 100-percent Indigenous-owned project that will be the first geothermal facility in the province and among the first in Canada. It will power 10,000 homes and create economic opportunity for the community.

There is much more work ahead to ensure that Indigenous Peoples will be equal partners in the development of energy and natural resources in Canada, and the Government of Canada remains committed to doing that work. Through advancing meaningful partnerships with Indigenous groups and enabling the development of innovative natural resource projects, together we are building good projects that will power and supply our communities and produce economic benefits for generations to come.

Quotes

“Today, as we celebrate the launch of the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, I want to thank the many Indigenous groups, businesses and organizations that have advocated for this over many years. It is thanks to their advocacy that Indigenous communities will have greater opportunities to build and share in the economic benefits of natural resource and energy development in their own ways and on their own terms. This will create jobs, drive economic growth and wealth, and have lasting impacts for the generations to come.”

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

“INRP funding has increased the fluency of our members in climate change causes, impacts and mitigation and adaptation strategies. As a result, FNCI is advancing Indigenous natural resource development opportunities and building the decarbonized economy of the future. This includes enabling the pursuit of equity ownership in renewable energy infrastructure in northwest B.C.; the development of hydrogen and solid carbon manufacturing in the Port of Prince Rupert; and shaping the viability of Indigenous nature-based solutions projects from the Montney Play to the northwest coast. FNCI’s partnership with Columbia University is an applied research project intended to activate specific decarbonization opportunities in Asian markets that result in measurable and transparent emission reduction benefits and agreements.”

Chief Crystal Smith
First Nations Climate Initiative, Nisga’a, Haisla, Metlakatla, Halfway River First Nations

“The TDK Geothermal Energy Project is a vital step toward energy security and reliability in northeastern BC. Showcasing Indigenous leadership in Canada’s geothermal industry, the project is 100-percent owned through Fort Nelson First Nation’s economic development arm, Deh Tai LP. We are progressing in project design, permitting, consultation and BC Hydro negotiations. We are proud to lead the way in advancing sustainable, renewable energy solutions for our people and the broader economy.”

Jim Hodgson
CEO, Deh Tai Limited

“For generations, Indigenous people have understood how to care for these landscapes, but that knowledge was pushed aside. Now, as we face growing wildfire risks, we’re seeing a shift back to the practices that have always worked. This funding allows WLFN to lead the way — training our people, reducing fuel loads and restoring balance to the land. It’s a step forward, and there’s still more work to do to have a resilient land base.”

John Walker
Stewardship Forester, Williams Lake First Nation

Quick Facts

The Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation is a subsidiary of the Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) and was officially launched in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement.The number of major natural resource and energy projects with potential for Indigenous equity participation is anticipated to grow significantly, with the First Nations Major Projects Coalition’s research expecting this potential to reach $525 billion in capital investment over the next ten years.Natural Resources Canada will support eligibility screening and deliver funding to help Indigenous groups obtain advisory services so they can make informed decisions on equity ownership opportunities in natural resource and energy projects.Historically, Indigenous Peoples have been excluded from Canada’s natural resources sector. For example, due to the Indian Act, Indigenous communities have fewer options for securing capital or leveraging existing assets as collateral, leading to increased borrowing rates that create a barrier to equity investment in natural resource and energy projects.

Associated Links

Backgrounder: Project Funding DetailsIndigenous Natural Resource Partnerships ProgramThe Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee CorporationFinance Canada Backgrounder: Launching the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee CorporationFirst Nations Climate Initiative

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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Products That Count Announces the Winners of the 2026 CPO Awards, Honoring the Product Leaders Redefining Their Craft in the AI Era

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May 1, 2026

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The annual Awards recognize Chief Product Officers whose scope, influence, and impact have expanded dramatically as AI reshapes every organization.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Products That Count, the world’s largest nonprofit community of product managers with over 600,000 members, today announced the winners of the 2026 CPO Awards. The Awards, produced in partnership with Mighty Capital, celebrate the Chief Product Officers whose leadership is shaping how products are built, shipped, and scaled in a moment of unprecedented change.

“The CPO mandate has fundamentally expanded,” said SC Moatti, Founder and Managing Partner of Products That Count. “Our winners this year are setting the standard for what the role becomes when AI is woven into every layer of the business. They are the builders other builders learn from.”

The role of the Chief Product Officer has never been broader. Today’s CPOs are architecting the systems, teams, and decisions that determine whether their companies win in the AI era.

The 2026 CPO Award Winners, by category:

President / CEO: Former CPOs who have elevated to the top role.

Eglae Recchia, CPO, Keyway

Maria Thomas, CEO (promoted from CPO), Rebrandly

Nabil Bukhari, President, Extreme Networks

Shiven Ramji, President & Chief Product Officer, Okta

Investor Mindset: Treating product like a portfolio of bets, with M&A as a strategic lever.

Achuth Rao, CPO, New York Life Insurance Company

Andrew Tsao, CPO & Analytics Officer, Audible

Dane Glasgow, CPO, Paramount/Skydance

Diana Benli, Chief Product Officer, Cognizant

Diego Dugatkin, Chief Product Officer, Box

Mike Bidgoli, CPO & CTO, Tubi

Vasu Murthy, CPO, Cohesity

Vrushali Paunikar, CPO, Carta

Ambrish Verma, Chief Product Officer, Ingram Micro

Enterprise Scale: Operating in complexity. Not speed alone, but transformation at scale.

Carla Guzzetti, Chief Product Officer, Cloud Applications, Extreme Networks

Eddie Garcia, Chief Product Officer, eBay

Gautam Shah, Chief Product Officer, Carelon

Ghazal Badiozamani, SVP of Product Management, Cengage

Kelli Fielding, Chief Product Officer, Europe, TransUnion

Mikhail Vaysbukh, Chief Product Officer, Elsevier

Monica Ugwi, GM, Copilot + Agents for Manufacturing & Mobility, formerly Microsoft

Randall Hounsell, SVP Connected Living Product, Comcast

Rita Khan, Chief Consumer & Digital Officer, formerly Optum

Ryan Bergstrom, Chief Product Officer, Paychex

Tim Simmons, Chief Product Officer, formerly Walmart International

Tina Tarquinio, Chief Product Officer, IBM Z and LinuxONE, IBM

Todd Garner, CPO, Sam’s Club

Trey Courtney, Global Chief Product & Partnerships Officer, Mood Media

Wyatt Jenkins, SVP Product, Intuit

Shayani Roy, SVP Product Management and Design, OpenTable

Scale Up: Growth-stage leaders putting the scale in place.

Aaron Seevers, Chief Product Officer, Noom

Avijit Sinha, SVP Corporate Development, EDB

Hannah Park, Chief Product Officer, Planned Parenthood

Joe Futty, CPO & CTO, Pipedrive

Jonathan Shottan, Chief Product Officer, Tonal

Kimberly Bloomston, CPO, 6sense

Kousthub Raghavan, Chief Product & Digital Officer, CLEAR

Natalia Williams, Chief Product Officer, Qonto

Nikita Miller, Chief Product Officer, Perk

Nilesh Khandelwal, Chief Product Officer, Rakuten Rewards

Paul Burke, CPO, Reveleer

Randhir Vieira, CPO, formerly Healthify

Renn Turiano, CPO, Gannett – USA Today Network

Sarah Turrin, CPO, Color

Emerging: On an amazing trajectory, regardless of tenure.

Adam Kelsey, EVP, Product Management, SignalWire

Apurva Garware, SVP, Head of Product, Invisible Technologies

Chai Atreya, Chief Product Officer, ActiveCampaign

Jack Brody, Chief Product Officer, Suno

John Barrus, VP of Product Management, Niobium

Kevin Swint, former Co-Founder & CPO, RemixAI

Nirmal Kumar, CPO, Aliaswire

Rafael Flores, Chief Product Officer, Treasure Data.ai

Sarah Jacob Singh, CPO & CTO, Medbridge

Sarosh Waghmar, CPO & Co-Founder, Spotnana

Vanessa Davis, CPO, LegalOn

Vikas Seth, CPO, ARIS

Platform: Multiplying impact beyond their own product by leveraging the ecosystem at scale.

Arnab Bose, CPO, Asana

Kishan Chetan, EVP & GM, Agentforce Service Cloud, Salesforce

Shardul Vikram, Chief Product Officer, SAP Application AI, SAP

Tom Occhino, Chief Product Officer, Vercel

Rohit Badlaney, CPO & General Manager, IBM Cloud Platform, IBM

Terre Layton, former CPO, BetterHealth

B.J. Boyle, Chief Product Officer, MacroHealth

Winners were selected by an Independent Advisory Council of seasoned product executives based on impact and leadership.

ABOUT PRODUCTS THAT COUNT

Products That Count is the world’s largest nonprofit community, engaging 600,000+ product managers and Chief Product Officers (CPOs) united by a mission: to empower everyone to build products that truly count. In a world flooded with products, only a few ignite passion, deliver value at scale, and transform lives. Behind those exceptional products are visionary CPOs and high-performing product teams driving innovation at the most bleeding-edge companies. We recognize these trailblazers through our coveted Awards, accelerate careers from PM to the C-suite and beyond through daily best practices, and serve as the trusted advisor to nearly all Fortune 1000 CPOs. Our Corporate Alliance includes Walmart, Ford, Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, Amplitude, and more. The most admired product leaders across industries serve on our Advisory Council, guiding the future of product leadership. Together, we’re shaping a future where every product counts. Learn more at productsthatcount.org

ABOUT MIGHTY CAPITAL

Mighty Capital is the VC firm that leverages the Product Alpha Effect, a data-backed framework for outperformance that proves great products drive great businesses. Founded in 2018 by SC Moatti, a product visionary and former Meta product leader, and Jennifer Vancini, a veteran of tech investing and M&A, we bring a differentiated edge to venture. Through Moatti’s 600,000-strong Products That Count network of product leaders, we see where the world is going before others do. That proprietary signal gives us an advantage in sourcing, diligence, and post-investment value creation. Our portfolio speaks for itself: 1 in 5 companies is a category leader like Amplitude (NASDAQ:AMPL), Groq, and Netskope (NASDAQ:NTSK). Founders consistently call us the most value-add investor on their cap table, and use our global product ecosystem as a marketplace to accelerate time to revenue, scale, and exit. Anchored by GCM Grosvenor, we’re deploying Fund III with both prior funds in top decile DPI and TVPI, more than $20B in value created, and 6 IPOs to date. Learn more at Mighty.Capital.

Media Contact

Emma Shirlin, Products That Count, 1 8287020154, emmashirlin@productsthatcount.com

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SOURCE Products That Count

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Thomson Reuters Announces Cash Distribution Per Share and Share Consolidation Ratio for Return of Capital and Share Consolidation Transactions

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May 1, 2026

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Participating shareholders to receive cash distribution of US$1.435518 per common share

Shares to begin trading on a post-consolidated basis on May 4, 2026

TORONTO, May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Thomson Reuters (TSX/Nasdaq: TRI) today announced the cash distribution per share and the share consolidation ratio for its return of capital and share consolidation transactions, which have received the requisite approvals and will be effective at 3:01 a.m. (Toronto time) on May 4, 2026. The company’s common shares will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the Nasdaq on a post-consolidated basis when the markets open on May 4, 2026. The company’s trading symbol will remain “TRI” on both exchanges. The new CUSIP number for the post-consolidated common shares is 884903881 and the new ISIN number is CA8849038812.

The return of capital and share consolidation transactions consist of a distribution of US$1.435518 per common share (US$605 million in the aggregate) and a consolidation of the company’s outstanding common shares (or “reverse stock split”) at a ratio of 1 pre-consolidated share for 0.984560 post-consolidated shares. The share consolidation is proportional to the special cash distribution and the share consolidation ratio was based on the volume weighted average trading price of the shares on the Nasdaq for the five trading day period which ended today.Eligible shareholders who duly exercised their right to opt out of the return of capital will not receive the cash distribution. Each opting-out shareholder will still participate in the transactions through a share exchange and the share consolidation, but will continue to hold the same number of shares that it currently holds. Such opting-out shareholders will realize a proportionate increase in their equity and voting interests in the company by virtue of the consolidation of the participating shares under the share consolidation.

As promptly as practicable after the transactions are effective, Computershare Investor Services Inc., the company’s depositary for the transactions, will deliver cash distribution amounts to registered participating shareholders, subject to the terms and conditions of the transactions. The effects of the share consolidation will be reflected in the company’s share register. Beneficial or non-registered shareholders participating in the return of capital will receive cash distributions from their intermediary and the effects of the share consolidation will be recorded in their accounts.

Fractional shares will not be issued as part of the return of capital and share consolidation transactions and shareholders will receive the value of any fractional shares in cash, subject to certain exceptions described in the company’s management proxy circular dated March 13, 2026 (the “Circular”).

The Canadian and U.S. tax consequences of the return of capital and share consolidation transactions are complex. Shareholders are encouraged to review the Circular and related materials carefully and to consult their financial, tax and legal advisors.

Further details of the return of capital and share consolidation transactions are described in the Circular and related materials, which are available on www.thomsonreuters.com/2026specialmeeting. The return of capital and share consolidation documents were previously filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR+ and are available at www.sedarplus.ca. The documents were also furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission through EDGAR and are available at www.sec.gov.  

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters (TSX/Nasdaq: TRI) informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, audit, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit thomsonreuters.com.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the completion of the return of capital and share consolidation transactions and the anticipated tax treatment for shareholders participating in the return of capital and those opting out. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and reflect our company’s current expectations. As a result, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the risk factors discussed in materials that Thomson Reuters from time to time files with, or furnishes to, the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There is no assurance that the return of capital and share consolidation transactions will be completed or that other events described in any forward-looking statement will materialize. Except as may be required by applicable law, Thomson Reuters disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS
MEDIA
Zoe Zanettos
Director, Corporate Affairs
+1 647 202 8948
zoe.zanettos@thomsonreuters.com 

INVESTORS
Gary E. Bisbee, CFA
Head of Investor Relations 
+1 646 540 3249
gary.bisbee@thomsonreuters.com 

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SOURCE Thomson Reuters

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Lockheed Martin Awarded U.S. Space Force Space-Based Interceptor Contracts to Meet Layered Missile Defense Demand

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has been selected by U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command to develop capabilities supporting the Space-Based Interceptor (SBI) program. These agreements mark progress toward fielding core elements of an integrated, layered homeland defense solution. 

This work will accelerate development, testing and integration of SBI capabilities, delivering an early engagement layer that expands coverage, enhances survivability and strengthens deterrence against emerging missile threats.

Lockheed Martin’s SBI system leverages our experience with combat-proven interceptors like THAAD and PAC-3 as well as the Next Generation Interceptor, hypersonic strike systems and missile warning and tracking systems.

The result is an early, additional layer to the multi-domain, layered shield that protects the homeland and critical infrastructure from evolving missile threats.

“Lockheed Martin is already making next generation integrated air and missile defense a reality with our proven capabilities and the expertise across our entire network,” said Robert Lightfoot, Lockheed Martin Space president. “We’re investing in technology and infrastructure, while bringing together the strength of the full industrial base, to deliver advanced capabilities like SBI faster and are committed to delivering an integrated demonstration by 2028.” 

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security® vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready. More information at www.Lockheedmartin.com.

The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin

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