Situation Critical: Recent Developments in Canadian Critical Minerals Policy

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Key takeaways

• Canadian critical minerals projects are increasingly relevant within international discourse on strengthened supply chains, reduced dependencies, and ensured access to resources for clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and defence.
• Federal and provincial governments are developing strategic domestic and international alliances to support the growth of Canadian critical minerals projects.
• Federal and provincial governments are also working to accelerate project approvals through targeted investments, legislative reforms, and streamlined “single‑window” and concierge‑style processes.

Why this matters

The current geopolitical and regulatory landscape signals an opportune environment for advancing Canadian critical minerals projects. However, as with any evolving policy and regulatory framework, developers can expect some degree of uncertainty. Coordination with newly established “concierge-style” governmental supports may be crucial to success.  

Introduction

Amid increasing geopolitical tensions and the need for reliable access to critical minerals used in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and defence applications, Canadian critical minerals projects have risen to international importance. At the close of the G7 energy and environment ministers’ meeting in October 2025, Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, Tim Hodgson, announced the first round of strategic projects and measures under the Critical Minerals Production Alliance (including 26 new investments) to accelerate the development of secure critical minerals supply chains. Thirty further investments through the Critical Minerals Production Alliance were announced in March 2026. Canada is seeking greater investment in Canadian critical minerals projects through these international initiatives, alongside domestic initiatives to support critical mineral production.

This article provides an overview of federal critical minerals policy and recent developments across B.C., Ontario, and Québec.

What is a Critical Mineral?

Critical minerals lists are developed to guide investment and prioritize decision-making to support supply chains. As a result, these lists change with time based on supply and demand, technological change and other criteria.

To be considered a critical mineral in Canada, a mineral must satisfy both of the following criteria:

• the supply chain is threatened; and
• there is a reasonable chance of the mineral being produced by Canada.

It must also meet one of the following criteria:

• be essential to Canada’s economic or national security;
• be required for the national transition to a sustainable low-carbon and digital economy; or
• position Canada as a sustainable and strategic partner within global supply chains.

Commonly recognized critical minerals include lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and zinc. Canada’s critical minerals list currently identifies 34 minerals and metals, and can be found here.

British Columbia

Mining projects in British Columbia contribute $11.2 billion to provincial GDP and employ over 40,000 workers (as of January 2025). B.C. has recently asserted that 22 of Canada’s 34 critical minerals are produced, or have strong potential to be produced in B.C., with B.C. producing more copper than any other province. B.C. estimates critical mineral projects could represent “an opportunity of as much as $44 billion” by 2040. B.C. launched Phase 1 of its Critical Minerals Strategy in 2024.

In January 2024, B.C. established the Critical Minerals Office. The Office supports critical minerals projects by working with industry, stakeholders, and First Nations in order to promote mineral exploration and address barriers for priority projects. The Office describes itself as a “concierge service” throughout project development.

On May 29, 2025, the Infrastructure Projects Act received Royal Assent in B.C. This legislation provides a means to streamline regulatory processes for provincial infrastructure and other key, provincially significant projects.

On January 25, 2026, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut signed a memorandum of understanding which establishes a framework for co-operation toward a Western Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy. Publication of the final strategy is expected in June 2026, alongside the Energy and Mining Ministers Conference.

In February 2026, B.C. identified three projects that will join FPX Nickel Corp.’s Baptiste Nickel Project in working with the Critical Minerals Office to accelerate their respective permitting processes:

• NorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc.’s North Island Project
• Surge Copper Corp.’s Berg Project                                                     
• Defense Metals Corp.’s Wicheeda Project 

Ontario

Ontario’s mining industry contributes approximately $14.4 billion to the province’s GDP annually, directly and indirectly supporting 74,000 jobs.

Ontario produces significant amounts of cobalt and nickel, and has identified the Ring of Fire as its “biggest opportunity for critical minerals,” noting the region’s significant reserves of chromite, copper, nickel, platinum, and titanium.

In 2022, Ontario launched a five-year Critical Minerals Strategy, committing an investment of $24 million to the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (with $12 million earmarked for a critical minerals funding stream), and an additional $5 million over two years for the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund. In its 2026 budget, Ontario committed to investing an additional $30 million into the Ontario Junior Exploration Program over three years starting in 2026–2027.

In March 2026, Ontario announced it was updating its strategy through Fortifying Ontario’s Economy: A Plan to Accelerate Responsible Resource Development, inviting feedback from industry, Indigenous communities, and the public. Ontario also announced that it is updating the criteria for its Critical Minerals List, noting the addition of high-purity iron and aluminum.

Following the enactment of the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025, which introduced targeted measures to accelerate mining approvals, Ontario launched “One Project, One Process.” This process is intended to streamline and speed up mining development project designation through a dedicated Mine Authorization and Permitting Delivery team that acts as a single point of contact for provincial approvals. Through this initiative, Ontario is seeking to reduce government review times by 50%. Since October, three projects have been accepted under the framework:

• Frontier Lithium’s PAK Lithium Project
• Canada Nickel Company’s Crawford Nickel Project
• Kinross Gold’s Great Bear Project

In December 2025, Ontario launched its $500 million Critical Minerals Processing Fund, which seeks to increase Ontario’s critical minerals processing capacity and strengthen domestic supply chains.

Québec

Québec is the largest producer of lithium and high-purity iron in Canada, and hosts deposits of other critical minerals including copper, graphite, niobium, zinc, cobalt, nickel, and titanium. Québec advises that its mines emit fewer greenhouse gases than anywhere else in the world and are powered by 99% renewable hydroelectric energy.

In 2025, Québec launched its 2025-2031 Mining Strategy, which is aimed at “consolidating Québec’s role as a key player in the exploration, production, processing, and recycling of critical and strategic minerals.” Québec has set out four priorities to support its strategic position in critical minerals:

• Improve the business and regulatory environment to accelerate projects
• Develop the entire critical and strategic mineral value chain (emphasizing the principles of the circular economy)
• Deploy strategic infrastructure and logistics corridors
• Engage partners to advance projects (including Indigenous and local communities)

The strategy is supported through an $88.1 million budget for 2025-2031, though Québec estimates that other government financial levers supporting the objective total over $3 billion. Further, in Budget 2026–2027, Québec announced the provision of an additional $1 billion for the “Fonds pour les minéraux critiques et stratégiques,” in order “to make Québec a leader in the production and processing of critical and strategic minerals.”

Québec’s legislators are working to enact Bill 5, “An Act to accelerate the granting of the authorizations required to carry out priority national-scale projects,” which would allow the province to designate and prioritize national-scale projects by centralizing the authorization process into a single stream. As of May 25, 2026, the Bill remains at the committee stage.

Meanwhile, Québec has also entered into collaborative agreements in respect of critical minerals with the United Kingdom (December 2025) and Germany (March 2026).

Federal developments

Federal initiatives highlight the importance of streamlined permitting processes, international coordination, infrastructure investment, and Indigenous partnerships as key components in unlocking Canada’s critical minerals potential.

In 2022, Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy was published, supported by nearly $4 billion over eight years for its various initiatives. Among other items, Canada has allocated $1.5 billion to develop critical minerals infrastructure and $61.5 million to support northern regulatory review and permitting for critical mineral projects and to assist project developers in navigating federal regulatory processes.

To further support proponents in receiving regulatory approvals, Canada enacted the Building Canada Act in 2025, which establishes a new streamlined federal government oversight process for projects deemed to be in the national interest. Then, Canada launched the “Major Projects Office” (“MPO”), which has a mandate to “serve as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects built faster” by “streamlining and accelerating regulatory approval processes” and “helping to structure and co-ordinate financing of these projects as needed.”  

Five critical mineral projects have been referred to the MPO to date, including:

• Foran Mining’s McIlvenna Bay Copper Project (SK)
• Newmont & Imperial Metals’ Red Chris Mine Expansion (B.C.)
• Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project (ON)
• Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie Mine (QC)
• Northcliff Resources’ Sisson Mine (NB)

Canada also launched a Mine Permit Navigator, an online tool providing proponents with a roadmap of federal approvals.

In February 2026, Canada provided a progress update on the strategy, which highlights the following:

• Approximately half of the 140 mining projects proposed for 2024-2034 will process or extract critical minerals, worth $72.4 billion in potential investment.
• Domestic production of nine critical minerals (aluminum, graphite, lithium, magnesium, molybdenum, niobium, platinum, scandium, and uranium) increased over 10%.
• 14 critical minerals projects have advanced through the federal impact assessment process.
• Strategic efforts to partner with Indigenous groups, domestic stakeholders, and international allies to promote domestic production of critical minerals, including through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund Indigenous Grants, the Indigenous Natural Resources Partnerships Program, and the Northern Regulatory Initiative.
• Key upcoming investment measures, including:
• the Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund (invests $2 billion over five years in critical mineral projects);
• the First and Last Mile Fund (commits $1.5 billion from 2026-2030 towards strategic mining and infrastructure projects); and
• $443 million over five years for the Defence Industrial Strategy (together with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, will develop critical mineral processing technologies, and build on critical mineral stockpiling mechanisms).

Conclusion

Together, these initiatives suggest that Canadian critical minerals projects may be entering a more favourable investment and approvals environment. However, proponents should remain realistic about what these reforms do, and do not, change. Most are intended to streamline coordination and reduce delay, not to remove substantive environmental assessment, consultation, or permitting obligations. Community and Indigenous engagement will remain critical to project timing and outcomes. In that sense, the opportunity is real, but so is the need for careful planning, credible engagement, and execution across a shifting regulatory landscape.

If you have questions about how evolving critical minerals policies may affect project approvals and regulatory processes, our Global Metals & Mining team would be pleased to discuss these developments and their implications for your operations.

Our Mining Disputes Insights Series highlights recent court decisions, legal developments and policy shifts that are influencing how capital is deployed, how transactions are structured, and how projects are advanced and defended when challenged. Each article offers focused insight on a specific pressure point or recent development, with an emphasis on practical consequences for mining companies, investors, and other market participants. Across the series, we explore questions that matter to both operational and deal teams.

For a closer look at developments affecting the mining sector and guidance on addressing challenges and opportunities, check out our Mining Prospects blog.