What We Do
We work on projects in conservation, environmental and natural resource governance, and infrastructure and economic development, all with the goal of building stronger, more resilient communities.
Our Clients
We have over 15 years of experience working with a diverse clientele from all across Canada and around the world.
Snapshot of Past and Ongoing Projects
La Grande Alliance Infrastructure Studies
The La Grande Alliance Study is a comprehensive and multi-phase initiative to explore the potential and impacts of new infrastructure developments in the Cree territory of Eeyou Istchee, northern Quebec. These developments could include road upgrades and extensions, recommissioning old railways and building new ones, and a seasonal harbour. The driving philosophy of the study is that infrastructure that is socially acceptable must demonstrate that the benefits outweigh all costs, including social, environmental, and economic. There is a long history of development in Eeyou Istchee, with a mixed record on social accessibility, environmental impacts, and public health, and a corresponding lack of trust. SYM has succeeded by understanding and appreciating the long lasting and historic impacts of development and integrating that into the study approach.
Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Program
This research program began in 2016. It is a collaboration between 5 separate teams representing six separate Canadian Universities. The Program seeks to better understand the local depletion of eelgrass beds, a keystone species of the marine environment in eastern James Bay. This research seeks to create knowledge through extensive linkages between Cree Traditional Ecological Knowledge and western science.
Lake Sturgeon Management in the JBNQA Territory
Since 2021, SYM Consulting has been co-developing a management plan for lake sturgeon in the Cree territory of Eeyou Istchee, northern Quebec, as part of the federal Species at Risk Act process. Lake sturgeon are a vital wild food species, but there are concerns over its long-term persistence and the continuity of traditional practices. SYM has succeeded in developing this management plan in cooperation with individuals and organisations ranging from individual Cree communities to the Federal Government. We have worked with Band Councils, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Québec Ministère de l’Environnement, the Cree Nation Government, and the Cree Trappers’ Association, among others, to ensure that this regional and federal management plan process has been brought to the local level, that local people feel heard, and that their feedback is being integrated.
Identification and Cleanup of Abandoned Mining Exploration Sites in Eeyou Istchee
This project began in 2005 and continues to this day. The project utilizes Cree traditional knowledge to inventory abandoned sites located throughout a territory the size of France. This framework has proven both efficient and effective, allowing a better targeted effort to identify sites and subsequently developing an action plan to clean them up. SYM Consulting is providing technical support in the continued identification of sites, as well as a strategy to proceed with the cleanup.