Consortium Launches Dialogue on 1670 Royal Charter

A national dialogue examines the lasting impacts of the Hudson's Bay Company's 1670 royal charter on Indigenous communities across Canada.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Historical

Bold vector editorial illustration of a branching inland waterway across flat northern tundra, with a weathered canoe paddle on the shore. — The Hudson's Bay Company Royal Charter Consortium launched a nationwide dialogue examining the lasting impacts of the 1670 royal charter on Indigenous communities across Canada. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The HBC Royal Charter Consortium has announced a nationwide dialogue on the lasting impacts of the 1670 HBC Royal Charter, which granted exclusive land, trading and exploration rights over the Hudson Bay watershed. First Peoples Group will conduct the first phase of Indigenous engagement in Winnipeg, Timmins, Yellowknife, Vancouver and Iqaluit.

Why it matters

The Charter shaped centuries of trade, land use and relations between the Crown and Indigenous peoples across much of present-day Canada. The engagement is designed to inform a Sharing Framework that will guide how the Consortium members present this history.

The Consortium comprises the Canadian Museum of History, the Manitoba Museum, the Archives of Manitoba and the Royal Ontario Museum, which together hold about 3,500 linear metres of HBC archival records and nearly 28,000 HBC artifacts in Manitoba. The results of the engagement process have not yet been published.

The players

First Peoples Group

A consulting firm fully owned, staffed, operated and guided by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members, leading the Indigenous engagement phase.

Canadian Museum of History

A federal museum in Gatineau, Quebec, and one of four public institutions in the HBC Royal Charter Consortium.

Royal Ontario Museum

A major Toronto museum holding about 400,000 artifacts and a member of the HBC Royal Charter Consortium.

The details

The Charter was jointly acquired in 2025 by The Weston Family and David Thompson and gifted to the Consortium. The first phase of engagement is a three-phase national dialogue designed and implemented by First Peoples Group, a consulting firm fully owned, staffed, operated and guided by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members.

1670: King Charles II issues the HBC Royal Charter.
2025: The Charter is jointly acquired by The Weston Family and David Thompson.
November 2026: In-person Indigenous engagements begin.
Late 2027: The Manitoba Museum becomes the first Consortium member to display the Royal Charter.

Historical Context

The 1670 Charter granted the Hudson's Bay Company exclusive rights over the Hudson Bay watershed, a foundation of the fur trade that shaped Canada's territorial expansion. The present dialogue reassesses that legacy through Indigenous engagement, placing the 1670 document at the centre of a modern reckoning with colonial-era land rights.

Canadians will be able to take part in the engagement sessions in five cities, and the Manitoba Museum will open the Charter to public view in late 2027. The Sharing Framework will shape how the Consortium's museums and archives present this history to visitors.

The takeaway

The 1670 Charter is still shaping conversations about land and trade in Canada, and the Consortium's engagement invites the public to understand that history through Indigenous perspectives.

What happens next

In-person Indigenous engagements with leaders, scholars, Elders, youth and artists are scheduled to begin in November 2026, and the Manitoba Museum will display the Royal Charter in late 2027.