A future built upon clean technology and sustainable energy depends on access to critical minerals — metallic or non-metallic elements such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, rare earth elements, potash, uranium, and aluminum. These minerals are of paramount importance in the manufacturing of green infrastructure such as solar panels and electric-vehicle (EV) batteries.
This rising demand for critical minerals — the World Bank predicts a 500-percent increase by 2050 — not only presents an opportunity for Canada to position itself as a global supplier of choice for the green economy, it also creates new avenues for Canadian workers and businesses. With these new opportunities in mind, the government has released its Critical Minerals Strategy (CMS), supported by up to $3.8 billion. The CMS is part and parcel of a broader strategy to position Canada’s supply chains for the green transition.
In the past year, the government had announced significant investments to help build Canada’s green supply chains.
Federal funding will support multibillion projects by Honda, General Motors and Stellantis to invest in their existing assembly plants to build hybrid and electric vehicles in Canada. The government has also announced funding to support Umicore’s plan to invest in a net-zero facility to produce essential components of electric vehicle batteries.
Also, this past March, the government announced it will support the Six Nations Community’s Oneida Energy Storage project which will store surplus electricity from the grid for later use. This will be the largest electricity-battery storage project in Canada.
On the heels of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Volkswagon to collaborate for the manufacture of EVs and batteries, the government, also in March, welcomed Volkswagon’s decision to build its first overseas EV-battery manufacturing facility right here in Canada. Volkswagen will be in a position to partner with suppliers in the Centre-du-Québec region, which already has several companies in the electric-battery industry, including cathode and anode manufacturers. Canada’s EV battery-supply chain is ranked second in the world, up from 5th in 2021.
Finally, federal funding will support Rio Tinto et Titane’s plans to increase its production of critical minerals in this country.
