About Us
Precision, alignment, and the certainty to get it right the first time.
Approval and Execution Strategies for Complex Projects.
Falkirk leads approval strategy for major projects. We design and align regulatory, Indigenous, environmental, and policy pathways so projects move through approval efficiently.
North America and Beyond
Find a Project Near You
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Our Expertise
The disciplines that decide whether a complex project advances or stalls.
Sectors we work with
Proven Track Record
Decades of combined experience. Projects approved across multiple provinces. Hundreds of complex initiatives guided from strategy to success. Falkirk brings proven expertise to every major project.
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300+
Project & Regulatory Approvals Secured
8B+
In Investment Support
Our Story
Falkirk leads major project approval strategy.
We work with proponents, investors, and partners to help major projects secure approval in complex operating environments. Our role is to ensure projects are structured, sequenced, and aligned to meet every requirement they must satisfy—regulatory, Indigenous, environmental, land and water, public affairs, public policy, and compliance—in a way that holds under realworld scrutiny.
Our Approach in Practice
See how Falkirk approaches complex projects where multiple opportunities, challenges, and interests intersect. Each case study highlights the strategies used to navigate competing priorities and move projects forward.
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K’omoks First Nation Land Use Plan (example)
Falkirk is working with K’omoks First Nation to develop a…
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Elk Valley Coal Operations (example)
Served as lead consultant for water quality modelling and permitting…
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Cariboo Gold Project (example)
Falkirk successfully led the Environmental Assessment Process under the new…
What Clients Say
Let’s Work Together
Whether you’re seeking strategy guidance or are interested in joining our team, we’re ready to talk.
Send Us a Message
Our Story
Falkirk was founded on a simple belief: complex projects succeed when the right expertise is brought together at the right time, and in the right order. Our senior practitioners have spent decades inside the systems that decide project outcomes—regulatory, political, environmental, and partnership. We built Falkirk to work across all of them at once, with precision, integration, and a commitment to getting it right the first time.
Mission
We help clients navigate complex projects by bringing together the expertise, relationships, and strategy needed to move them forward.
Vision
A better future for people and the environment, shaped by projects done right.
Our Core Pillars
Five pillars shape how we work and what clients can count on, whatever the project, the sector, or the jurisdiction.
Regulatory Fluency
Decades inside federal, provincial, and territorial approval systems, and standing relationships with the people who run them.
Rights and Title
We work from UNDRIP principles and the recognition of Aboriginal rights and title, in practice and not just in language.
Environmental Stewardship
Science-based, practical solutions that improve outcomes for people and the environment across the full project lifecycle.
Collective Judgement
A diversity of background, culture, experience, and perspective sharpens the judgment each project’s particular circumstances demand.
Applied Innovation
We invest in research, data, and new methods so our strategies keep pace with changing conditions, regulations, and client needs.
Why Work With Us?
Clients come to Falkirk for strategic judgement and technical expertise when the path forward is not obvious and the cost of getting it wrong is high.
Foresight
We anticipate system shifts before they hit your timeline, and sequence work so nothing gets done twice.
Scaled to Fit
Specialized help on a single discipline, or a fully integrated team — shaped to your project, not to a template.
Owner’s Mindset
We think and act like owners, because when you feel how much it matters, you deliver.
Continuity by Design
We structure our teams to maintain senior involvement and continuity from first conversation to final approval.
How We Started
Founded in 2019 by a group of senior environmental, regulatory, and public affairs practitioners, Falkirk has grown rapidly into a national team working across Canada, with clients across Canada and internationally.
Our Team
Our team brings deep sector experience and stays directly connected to the work. The people you meet are the people who deliver.
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Insights
What We’re Thinking About
Analysis on the policy, regulatory, and partnership shifts shaping how projects get approved and built.
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The Growing Influence of Indigenous Leadership in Energy
Across Atlantic Canada and beyond, Indigenous Nations and communities are…
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Our Commitments
Five commitments, made by our founders and carried by every person here. They shape our beliefs, our team’s practice, our work, and the advice we give.
Expertise
We keep building our team of experts so projects are delivered on time and on budget, using strong relationships, technical proficiency, and communication that aligns project goals with community goals.
Diversity
We believe a diversity of background, culture, experience, and perspective leads to enhanced company performance, greater innovation, and the delivery of greater value to our clients.
Reconciliation
Falkirk works in the spirit of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, guided by UNDRIP and the recognition of Aboriginal rights and title. It is embedded in our beliefs, our practice, and our advice.
Innovation
Innovation and adaptation underpin every other commitment. We embrace flexibility, adjust strategy as conditions and regulations change, and invest in continuous learning and research to find better solutions.
Environment
All Falkirk work focuses on improving the lives of people and the environment. We work with our clients to advance these principles, with the goal of ensuring a better future for all.
Founders
Jennifer Turner
President, CEO, & Founding Partner
M.Sc., PMP, R.P. Bio.
Jennifer Turner
President, CEO, & Founding Partner
M.Sc., PMP, R.P. Bio.
Jennifer Turner is the President and CEO of Falkirk and brings nearly 25 years of experience as a regulatory strategic advisor and environmental assessment/approvals expert. In addition to her technical expertise, Jennifer has extensive leadership experience, guiding multidisciplinary teams and advising executives and boards on complex regulatory challenges. She has played a central role in shaping strategy, building organizational capacity, and advancing major projects through rigorous approval processes.
Her project experience spans a wide array of infrastructure developments across sectors. Notable examples include mine development (Red Mountain Underground, Eskay Creek Revitalization, North Island, Elk Gold, Cariboo Gold, and Premier Gold Projects, BC; Casino and Coffee Gold Mines, Rogue Project, YK); hydroelectric power supply (Aishihik Generating Station, YK; Site C Clean Energy Project, BC); transmission line development (Columbia Valley Transmission Line Project, Atlin Hydro Expansion Project, BC; Stewart-Keno Transmission line, YK); transportation and rapid transit infrastructure (Gordie Howe International Crossing, VivaNext Yonge Street Rapidway Project, ON); and waste management (Highland Valley Copper Sustainable Waste Management and Metro Vancouver Waste-to-Energy Projects, BC).
Michael McPhie
Executive Chairman & Founding Partner
B.Sc., M.Sc, QEP
Michael McPhie
Executive Chairman & Founding Partner
B.Sc., M.Sc, QEP
Michael is a founding partner of Falkirk and Executive Chairman, and an accomplished professional with 30 years of experience at senior leadership levels in the natural resources sector in British Columbia, across Canada, and internationally. He is a specialist in regulatory issues for mining projects and operations, and has led environmental assessment, permitting, and government affairs for many projects in western and northern Canada and abroad. Michael’s career spans industry, association, and government leadership, including serving as President and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia and as Senior Policy Director at Natural Resources Canada. He recently served as Chair of the Board of Ridley Terminals Inc., a federal Crown corporation, and has sat on several public company boards of directors. He is co-author of Weaving Two Worlds, a book on reconciliation and resource development in Canada, and is a frequent speaker on the future of responsible resource development.
Max Brownhill
COO & Founding Partner
B.Sc., R.P.Bio
Max Brownhill
COO & Founding Partner
B.Sc., R.P.Bio
Max is Falkirk’s Chief Operating Officer and a founding partner, a senior professional with 24 years of experience providing environmental leadership for mining, oil and gas, infrastructure, and transportation projects. He has produced successful results in environmental assessments, project management, permitting, and community and First Nations engagement, and his experience spans the exploration, engineering, construction, and closure phases of the project development cycle. As COO, Max leads Falkirk’s operations, making sure the right people are on the right files and that the firm delivers what it commits to. He continues to advise clients directly, currently serving as strategic permitting advisor to a number of exploration and development companies, and is known for translating regulatory complexity into a plan a project team can actually run. A Registered Professional Biologist, Max has worked on projects ranging from early exploration in remote northern settings to major urban infrastructure in the Lower Mainland. Max’s approach reflects Falkirk’s owner’s mindset: understand the whole project, anticipate what is coming, and remove obstacles before they become delays.
Christy Smith
Senior Vice President, Indigenous Engagement and Human Environment
B.NS, M.B.A.
Christy Smith
Senior Vice President, Indigenous Engagement and Human Environment
B.NS, M.B.A.
Christy leads Falkirk’s Indigenous Engagement and Human Environment practice. A member of the K’ómoks First Nation, she is a highly skilled and accomplished professional with more than 25 years of proven expertise. Her work is deeply rooted in reconciliation and in decolonizing the way business gets done. Christy specializes in developing long-lasting relationships, consultation and engagement, human environment and socio-economic reporting, and the management plans that accompany permits and the environmental assessment process. She brings significant experience in negotiations, strategic planning, risk assessment, facilitation, and mediation, and is recognized for her professional and personal understanding of Indigenous worldviews. Christy advises both proponents and Indigenous governments, and is regularly called on where relationships have become difficult and a credible, respectful path forward is needed. She is a sought-after facilitator for difficult conversations between industry, government, and Nations, and speaks widely on what reconciliation looks like in practice on a working project. Christy also leads Falkirk’s regional growth work in the Yukon.
Long-standing relationships with regulatory agencies across environmental, mining, and energy sectors. Proven track record under the Mines Act and Environmental Management Act.
Work With Our Team
Tell us about your project and we will bring the right people to the table.
Company Culture
Falkirk is a place for practitioners who want to do the best work of their careers without losing the ability to shape how it gets done. We offer the autonomy to shape how work gets done, backed by the experience and reach to take on significant projects. We invest in learning, back people’s ideas, and expect everyone to think and act like an owner.
Owners, Not Passengers
Everyone here carries real responsibility for client outcomes, and the authority that should come with it.
Room to Grow
Continuous learning, cross-practice work, and mentorship from practitioners who have led Canada’s most complex approvals.
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Employee Name
Position, Falkirk
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Employee Name
Position, Falkirk
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Employee Name
Position, Falkirk
Job Openings
Current openings across our practice areas. Don’t see your role? Reach out anyway — we hire good people ahead of need.
Senior Indigenous & Government Relations Strategist
North Vancouver, BC (hybrid) or remote in Canada
Lead Indigenous and government relations strategy on complex projects, building relationships with Nations, governments, and regulators, and turning them into approval pathways that hold.
Open until filled
FAQs
Common questions about how we work, who we work with, and what an engagement looks like.
It means taking a project from concept to reality by aligning the regulatory, Indigenous, environmental, political, and funding pathways under one coordinated plan, so that decisions can actually be made.
No. We work on projects of every scale where the pathway is complex, from early-stage exploration and municipal infrastructure to multi-billion-dollar developments. Complexity, not size, is what brings clients to us.
Yes. We deliver two ways: specialized, discipline-specific support when you need focused expertise, and integrated cross-functional advisory when a project needs alignment across regulatory, technical, partnership, and political systems.
Yes. We advise Indigenous governments and development corporations on their own projects and partnerships, and support proponents in building relationships grounded in UNDRIP and the recognition of rights and title.
From offices in North Vancouver and Whitehorse, we work across every key resource region in North America, and in jurisdictions as diverse as Latin and South America, Asia, and the European Union.
Our roots run deep in mining and natural resources, but our expertise applies across complex, regulated projects in Canada and internationally — including clean energy, transmission and utilities, infrastructure and transportation, biofuels, and the public sector.
Yes. We have direct experience in nearly every key resource region of North America, and in jurisdictions as diverse as Latin and South America, Asia, and the European Union.
Yes. We advise Indigenous governments and development corporations on their own projects and partnerships, and on reviewing projects proposed within their territories.
Complexity matters more than size. If the approval path is unclear, the interests are competing, or the timeline is tight, the work is a fit.
Still Have Questions?
Tell us about your project and we will tell you what the path looks like.
Who We Work With
Proponents, investors and lenders, Indigenous governments and development corporations, and public agencies — across the sectors where projects are hardest to move.
Energy
Clean power, transmission, hydro, and emerging generation — from early siting through approval and operation.
Infrustructure
Major civil, utility, and public infrastructure that must satisfy several regulators and jurisdictions at once.
Mining
Exploration through construction, operations, expansion, and closure — our deepest and longest-standing sector.
Transportation
Highways, rapid transit, corridors, and border crossings where land, community, and regulatory interests converge.
Water
Water supply, treatment, management, and licensing for resource, industrial, and municipal operations.
Industrial
Processing, manufacturing, and waste management facilities requiring environmental approval and ongoing compliance.
Institutional, and more
Crown corporations, utilities, municipalities, and Indigenous development corporations advancing projects of their own.
Coordinated Project Support
We map jurisdictional pathways, build alignment across governments and regulators, and support engagement with Indigenous governments and key stakeholders.
Foresight
We anticipate system shifts before they hit your timeline, and sequence work so nothing gets done twice.
Scaled to Fit
Specialized help on a single discipline, or a fully integrated team — shaped to your project, not to a template.
Owner’s Mindset
We think and act like owners, because when you feel how much it matters, you deliver.
Key Support Areas
A central pillar of Falkirk’s approach is early and meaningful Indigenous engagement. The team has deep expertise in fostering productive relationships between industry and Indigenous communities, aligning permitting strategies with consultation efforts to create the conditions necessary for long-term project success.
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Stakeholder Engagement
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Compliance Documentation
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Regulatory Submissions
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Section Title
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We support Nations and proponents in building structured, rights-informed partnerships grounded in interests, outcomes, and long-term alignment.
Key Support Areas
A central pillar of Falkirk’s approach is early and meaningful Indigenous engagement. The team has deep expertise in fostering productive relationships between industry and Indigenous communities, aligning permitting strategies with consultation efforts to create the conditions necessary for long-term project success.
[Needs Background logo]
Stakeholder Engagement
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Compliance Documentation
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Regulatory Submissions
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Indigenous Engagement
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