Last month, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced the finalization of a “free trade” agreement (FTA) with Canada, marking the culmination of nearly a year of negotiations. While the deal is being touted as a step toward economic growth, its expected boost to extractive industries — particularly mining — has raised red flags among civil society organizations in both countries, who warn of increased environmental degradation, human rights violations, and a potential clash with Ecuador’s constitution.

Further, the deal presents a glaring conflict of interest for President Noboa, whose family, one of Ecuador’s wealthiest, has a sizable financial stake in a Canada-based mining company. The trade deal also reportedly includes controversial investor protections — banned under Ecuador’s constitution — that would allow foreign companies to sue the government in secretive international tribunals, favoring private profit over national sovereignty, democratic governance, and public welfare.

The Noboa Family’s Connection to Canadian Mining

The Noboa family’s ties to Canadian mining began in 2019, when Nobis — founded by President Noboa’s aunt Isabel — acquired nearly 10 percent of Adventus Mining Corporation. This $5.5 million USD investment made Nobis the largest Ecuadorian investor in the firm, which held a 75 percent stake in El Domo — expected to be one of Ecuador’s next large-scale mining projects. Overnight, a powerful family conglomerate became deeply enmeshed in ambitious mining endeavors.

Nobis quickly placed its executives in pivotal Adventus roles. Among them was Roberto Salas, a former Nobis vice chair and CEO, who served as honorary investment advisor under then-President Guillermo Lasso. During the Lasso administration, Adventus secured an Investment Contract granting reduced taxes, waiving import duties, and — most significantly — including international arbitration rights for a decade.

In January 2024, after Daniel Noboa assumed the presidency, Adventus acquired a separate Canadian company, Luminex Resources, creating one of the largest mining portfolios in Ecuador. While the Noboa family business empire expanded, local communities became increasingly alarmed. That same month, Noboa’s administration — without acknowledging his family’s stake in the project — granted an environmental license for the Domo project, despite long-standing opposition from local farmers and Indigenous groups.

The following month, Noboa rescinded the executive’s code of ethics prohibiting nepotism beyond immediate family members. Shortly thereafter, he became the first Ecuadorian head of state to speak at PDAC, a major annual mining convention in Toronto, where he announced the start of talks for a Canada-Ecuador FTA and unveiled $4.8 billion in new deals. Among these was a $100 million investment by Adventus backed by promises of government support.

Back home, six human rights and environmental defenders who had alleged serious irregularities in the approval of El Domo’s environmental license were sentenced to three-year prison terms for “illicit association,” deepening fears that dissent was being criminalized. Bolstered by the newly granted environmental license and government support, Adventus entered an agreement in April 2024 to be acquired by Canadian mining giant Silvercorp. Under the deal, Adventus shareholders — including Nobis — collectively gained an 18.4 percent stake in Silvercorp. Assuming Nobis fully retained its roughly 9.9 percent stake in Adventus prior to the acquisition, its share in Silvercorp now appears to be worth nearly triple the $5.5 million USD originally invested, thanks largely to the Noboa government’s actions.

But continued local opposition threatened to derail the deal. In June 2024, community groups challenged the approval of El Domo’s environmental license, leading Silvercorp to declare a “Material Adverse Effect” that could halt the acquisition. However, after a court upheld the license in July, Silvercorp finalized the purchase and the government green-lit the project’s advancement — cementing the Noboa family’s influence over Ecuador’s rapidly growing mining sector, even as local resistance continued to spur debate over whose interests come first in the resource-rich highlands.

The FTA as a Tool to Protect Noboa Family Interests

The FTA currently under scrutiny isn’t just about boosting mining — it’s a potential Trojan horse for corporate overreach with deeply troubling implications. Within its provisions is a key tool that could allow Silvercorp, and by extension the Noboa family, to shield their investment from future legislation and regulations. If a new administration takes office after the April 13 run-off election and enacts laws that Silvercorp perceives as threatening its bottom line, the company could initiate legal action through the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.

ISDS enables corporations to sue governments in secretive tribunals for potential lost future profits resulting from policy changes, such as new laws or regulations on the environment, taxation, health, human rights, and other critical areas. ISDS tribunals are slanted in corporations’ favor and have awarded them hundreds of millions — or even billions — of dollars, paid with public funds. As a result, experts and government officials warn that ISDS has a chilling effect on reforms and diverts resources away from essential public initiatives.

Ecuador has been burned by ISDS before. Its constitution bans it, and former President Rafael Correa withdrew Ecuador from bilateral investment treaties — including one with Canada — because they contained ISDS provisions. When Noboa attempted to roll back this prohibition in an April 2024 referendum — as he began negotiating the Canada FTA, and Adventus started negotiating a deal with Silvercorp — 65 percent of Ecuadorians voted to reject ISDS. Their skepticism is rooted in hard lessons.

The infamous case of Copper Mesa, a Canadian mining company, exemplifies ISDS abuses. The Ecuadorian government revoked the company’s mining concession after it failed to meet environmental impact assessment requirements and to consult with local communities. Copper Mesa’s private security forces violently suppressed local opposition, firing guns at civilian protesters. Despite these violations, Copper Mesa sued Ecuador, and an arbitral tribunal ruled against the government in 2016, ordering it to pay $24 million, plus $6 million in legal fees and arbitration costs. Time and again, Ecuador has been forced to shell out millions due to ISDS rulings, siphoning public money to corporate coffers.

Despite this, Noboa and his predecessor have pushed to bring Ecuador back into the ISDS system. Former President Lasso rejoined the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the World Bank’s ISDS arbitration forum, while Noboa — despite his failed referendum — ratified an agreement with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, making Ecuador one of its hosts. He also placed a staunch ISDS advocate on Ecuador’s Constitutional Court.

With the FTA, which many organizations and policymakers in both countries oppose, Noboa isn’t just cracking open the door to ISDS — he’s rolling out the red carpet for some of its most aggressive users. Canada-based corporations are the largest source of mining-related ISDS claims in Latin America, and Canada is Ecuador’s largest foreign investor, with mining making up the lion’s share of the investments. About half the world’s publicly listed mining companies are based in Canada, including many from third countries, raising fears that the FTA will contribute to Canada becoming an ISDS treaty-shopping hub where companies could establish a presence to exploit favorable legal provisions.

Before the countries’ parliaments ratify the deal, Ecuadorians and Canadians should take a hard look at who will benefit. At its core, the FTA serves as a boost to Noboa’s familial interests while giving Canadian corporations more power to freely exploit Ecuador’s resources at the expense of the environment and local communities. Rather than fostering mutual prosperity, this agreement risks eroding Ecuador’s sovereignty and tarnishing Canada’s reputation on the global stage.