Critical Minerals Strategy
Sector
Mining
Location
All provinces and territories, except Prince Edward Island
Sector
Mining
Location
All provinces and territories, except Prince Edward Island
Description
Canada is a powerhouse in the extraction and upgrading of critical minerals for strategic industries in Canada and to diversify and serve export markets. A priority for the Major Projects Office (MPO) will be to get more critical minerals projects to final investment decisions, with a focus on responsibility and regulatory certainty for projects and enabling infrastructure including ports and roads. This will enable critical mineral proponents working with Indigenous and local communities, investors, and provinces and territories to develop projects in regions like the Fosse du Labrador in Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Critical Mineral and Conservation Corridor in British Columbia.
This approach contributes to the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy, led by Natural Resources Canada, which applies a full value chain approach to critical minerals and industrial development.
Description
Canada is a powerhouse in the extraction and upgrading of critical minerals for strategic industries in Canada and to diversify and serve export markets. A priority for the Major Projects Office (MPO) will be to get more critical minerals projects to final investment decisions, with a focus on responsibility and regulatory certainty for projects and enabling infrastructure including ports and roads. This will enable critical mineral proponents working with Indigenous and local communities, investors, and provinces and territories to develop projects in regions like the Fosse du Labrador in Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Critical Mineral and Conservation Corridor in British Columbia.
This approach contributes to the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy, led by Natural Resources Canada, which applies a full value chain approach to critical minerals and industrial development.
Quick facts
- Accelerating projects: The MPO is focused on helping critical minerals projects reach final investment decisions.
- Global collaboration: Canada is leveraging global initiatives like the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance to mobilize global capital and accelerate the development of secure critical minerals supply chains.
Benefits
- This work supports efforts to build critical minerals value chains for clean technologies and defence applications, such as the refining and processing capacity needed for sectors like clean energy, electricity battery storage, as well as electric vehicles.
- This Strategy aligns with other Government of Canada efforts to advance Canada’s shared priorities on critical minerals, including strengthening supply chains, accelerating project development, and deepening international cooperation.
- For example, the MPO’s work to advance critical minerals projects aligns with the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance’s efforts to accelerate the development of critical minerals projects - ones that strengthen secure supply for advanced manufacturing and defence, reduce vulnerabilities, and address supply chain concentration.
Latest updates
- The five critical minerals projects referred to the MPO to date build on recent federal actions to advance Canadian critical minerals projects, including the recent announcements of 56 new investments, partnerships, and measures to accelerate $18.5 billion in critical minerals projects. Collectively, these build on the Government of Canada’s efforts, led by Natural Resources Canada, to strengthen critical minerals supply chains essential to Canada’s economic resilience, geopolitical relations, trade diversification, and national security.
- Budget 2025 further accelerated these efforts by introducing a First and Last Mile Fund and a Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund, investments through the Defence Industrial Strategy, as well as enhancements to tax measures to support the Canadian critical minerals sector.
- On September 11, 2025, the transformative strategy was referred to the MPO.
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