Constance Lake First Nation, Ontario, is an Oji-Cree First Nations band government nestled on the shores of Constance Lake. Located near Hearst, Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada, it is directly north of the community of Calstock along a continuation of Ontario Highway 663. The First Nation is home to nearly 1605 members of Cree and Ojibway, with approximately 820 living on reserve. The reserves, Constance Lake 92 and English River 66, span a total of 7,686 acres (3,110 ha).
The members of Constance Lake First Nation, Ontario, are of Cree, Oji-Cree, and Ojibway descent. Their ancestors have inhabited the Kenogami, Kabinakagami, Nagagamisis, Nagagami, Pagwachuan, Fushimi, Pledger Lake, Little Current, Drowning, Ridge, Albany, Kabinakagami, Nagagami, and Shekak River systems since the eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds.
Mammamattawa (English River), where the Kenogami River joins with the Kabinakagami and Nagagami Rivers, was the site of Hudson's Bay Company's and rival Revillon Frères' fur trading posts. This area later became the Mammamattawa (English River) Reserve, which was renamed the Constance Lake First Nation (CLFN).
Constance Lake First Nation, Ontario, has two reserves: the 3,110.5-hectare (7,686.2-acre) Constance Lake 92 Indian Reserve and the 3,108-hectare (7,680-acre) English River 66 Indian Reserve. Constance Lake 92 serves as the main reserve. The community has existed in this area since the early 1940s, when the reserve was first established.
Constance Lake First Nation, Ontario, is one of the nine First Nations in the mineral-rich Northern Ontario Ring of Fire area. This massive planned chromite-mining and smelting development project in the mineral-rich area of the James Bay Lowlands is expected to generate $120 billion, providing economic activity for generations.
Lecours Lumber Company Ltd., which operates a sawmill located in Calstock on a long-term federal lease, is the main employer of the community. In February 2013, the company and Constance Lake First Nation negotiated memorandum of agreements regarding Lecours operations on Constance Lake First Nation.
Constance Lake is policed by the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service, an Aboriginal-based service.
By March 2012, Industry Canada's Broadband Canada, the Northwestern Ontario Broadband Expansion Initiative, was already laying 2300 kilometers of fibre optic cable to 26 First Nations across the Far North, including the Ring of Fire.
