Matt McPherson is a Partner at OKT. Matt advises First Nation governments and organizations across the country on Aboriginal and treaty rights claims and negotiations, resource development agreements, and environmental regulatory processes.
He frequently advises clients on a wide range of issues related to the protection of section 35 rights, including consultation and accommodation and resource development agreements. He has particular experience in matters related to the protection of fisheries and water. He advises on a wide variety of environmental matters, and appears before environmental and regulatory tribunals to protect the rights and interest of First Nations.
Matt also advises clients on Indigenous Data Sovereignty and data protection, including governance issues and the negotiation of agreements to protect cultural resources, Indigenous knowledge systems, and First Nations’ data resources.
He received his LL.B from the University of Victoria, and an MBA from York University, and he clerked at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Matt worked for an international advertising and strategy company.
Matt is the co-editor of the 5th edition of the widely-used Aboriginal Law Handbook. He is recognized in the field of Aboriginal Law by the Lexpert Directory and in the practice area of Aboriginal Law / Indigenous Practice by The Best Lawyers in Canada.
The services of Matt McPherson are provided through a Professional Corporation.
Representative Work
- Advice to First Nations and Indigenous organizations regarding protection of Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous data sovereignty issues.
- Advice to First Nations, as well as regional and national Indigenous organizations, regarding Fisheries Act regulations and policies.
- Counsel to First Nations in exploration agreements and Impact and Benefit Agreements involving mining, oil and gas, and municipal projects.
- Counsel to First Nation in early exploration mining project resulting in an exploration agreement ensuring protection of community cultural and burial sites.
- Counsel to a First Nation successfully quashing a mineral exploration permit for inadequate consultation.
- Counsel to Innu Nation in lawsuit against Hydro-Quebec for damage caused by flooding from the Churchill Falls Generating Station.
- Counsel to Innu Nation in injunction against Newfoundland and Labrador regarding impacts of financial restructuring of Muskrat Falls Dam on IBA benefits.
- Co-counsel to Inuvialuit Regional Corporation in its intervention before the Supreme Court of Canada, advocating for the application of UNDRIP in Clyde River (Hamlet).
Publications and Media
- Presentation and Panel, "Section 35 Aboriginal Rights Framework", Certificate in Fundamentals of Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law, Osgoode Professional Development, 5 November 2025.
- Panel Discussion and Presentation, UBS Forum on Australia First Nations Legal Issues, “Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Knowledge Protection Issues re Resource Development and Emerging Issues”, December 2023
- Presentation and Co-Chair, “All You Need to Know about Overlapping Claims and Land Sharing Agreements to Reduce Consultation Fatigue”, The Canadian Institute’s 14th Annual Conference on Eastern Indigenous Consultation & Engagement, 23-24 May 2023.
- Guest Lecturer, “Duty to Consult and Accommodate”, Piikani Advanced Indigenous Relations, 2 February 2023.
- Presentation, “Understanding Cumulative Effects and the Duty to Consult and Accommodate” FSIN DTCA Forum, North Battleford, SK, 5 May 2022.
- Guest Lecturer, “Duty to Consult and Accommodate in the Planning Context”, University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies course on Legal Basis of Planning (PLA1103H), 8 Match 2022.
- Presentation, “Land Codes and Beyond”, University of Victoria JD/JID Field School, 22 January 2021.
- Presentation and Panel, "Consulting with Indigenous Communities During a Pandemic," Osgoode Professional Development, 13 May 2020.
- Panel, "Perspectives on the Duty to Consult and Accommodate," Fundamentals of Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law, Osgoode Professional Development, 7 April 2020.
- Presentation, "UNDRIP in 2020: Implications of BC’s DRIPA and UNDRIP implementation across Canada", National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association (NALMA) Regional Training, Whitehorse, 11 March 2020.
- Co-editor, Aboriginal Law Handbook, 5th Edition (Toronto: Thomson Reuters), 2018.
- "Indigenous Voices Needed in Review of Copyright Act", 18 September 2018
- Presentation, "Leveraging the Duty to Consult to Protect Water", Beyond the Duty to Consult, Trent University, 1 March 2019.
- Presentation, "Intellectual Property Rights and the protection of Indigenous Knowledge", 3rd Annual Indigenous Consultation Atlantic Conference, Halifax, October 22-24, 2018.
- Workshop, "Building Effective Partnership Agreements", 3rd Annual Indigenous Consultation Atlantic Conference, Halifax, October 22-24, 2018.
- Presentation, "Advancing Consent: Realizing the Promise of FPIC", Workshop on Best Practices in the Duty to Consult and Accommodate, 13 October 2017.
- Keynote Speech, "Treaty Renewal as Economic Development," at First Nations Economic Advancement Conference hosted by the Ontario First Nations Economic Developers Association, 11 October 2017
- "Premier needs a history lesson on rights", Winnipeg Free Press, Jan. 27, 2017
- Environmental Regulatory Reviews Update: Canada’s process for reviews still falling short, OKT Blog, November 14, 2016
- "What if Canada held coast-to-coast environmental review hearings and nobody came?", OKT Blog, September 29, 2016
- "Implications of Northern Gateway decision on Energy East", OKT Blog, July 14, 2016
- “Overlapping Claims and Shared Territories”, The Commons Institute Presentation, 13 December 2012, Toronto, Ontario.
Recent Articles
Ontario continues to throw environmental pre-caution to the wind with Bill 197
On Tuesday, the Ontario government passed the Omnibus COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020 (aka Bill 197) which makes significant changes to Ontario’s environmental assessment (EA) process. How exactly these changes…
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BC Bill 41: A Promising Start to Implementing UNDRIP
The Province of British Columbia is likely to be the first government in Canada to pass legislation to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Changes Coming to Ontario Provincial Policy Statement and land-use planning
Following in the wake of the significant changes to the environmental and land use planning regimes brought in by Bill 108, More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019, Ontario is…
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