Doug Ford to unveil strategy for 'critical minerals,' worth $3.5B to Ontario economy

Premier Doug Ford will unveil plans Thursday for Ontario to capitalize on the growing global demand for minerals that are crucial to technologies such as electric vehicle batteries, smartphones and laptops.

The government provided CBC News with an advance copy of its "critical minerals" strategy, to be publicly released by Ford Thursday morning at a mine north of Thunder Bay.  

Critical minerals — including nickel, cobalt, lithium, and platinum — are already a $3.5 billion-a-year industry in Ontario. They're classed as critical because of their essential role in the production of specialized technologies. Their supply is also typically at higher risk than the rest of the mining sector because of geopolitics and market demand.

China, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are currently among the biggest global sources of various critical minerals. Russia's war in Ukraine and the sanctions slapped on the country's economy, make Ontario's announcement particularly timely. 

The Ford government wants to position Ontario as a reliable supplier of critical minerals and calls its 53-page strategy "a comprehensive, five-year roadmap" to do that. 

"Global conflict has exacerbated these supply vulnerabilities and Ontario must step up to meet the soaring demand for critical minerals," says Greg Rickford, the Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, in his introduction to the document. 

The strategy lays out six areas of action for the government, including providing new financial incentives for critical minerals exploration, investing in research and development and "improving" the province's mining regulations. 

Ford and Rickford will also announce $29 million in new government funding devoted to the strategy, mostly earmarked to support junior exploration companies and creating a critical minerals innovation fund. 

"This is an extraordinary opportunity and no question, a challenge," Rickford said in an interview Wednesday. "We believe that Ontario serves up the best supply chain the world over, from what's in the earth to what is powering automobiles in in the future." 

The critical minerals strategy is linked to the Ford government's recently launched auto sector strategy, dubbed Driving Prosperity. That plan envisions auto makers in Ontario to be building 400,000 electric and hybrid vehicles annually by 2030, powered by batteries made in the province, using minerals extracted and processed in Ontario. 

Top-level U.S. trade officials are interested in Ontario's ability to supply and process critical minerals, Rickford said. 

He and Ford met last week with European Union representatives and discussed what Rickford called "a strategic alliance" on supplying critical minerals for the automotive sector, national defence and technology. 

The province's $10.7 billion mining industry is not just a economic driver in northern Ontario. Toronto's TSX and TSXV exchanges are home to more than 40 per cent of the world's publicly traded mining companies. There are also mineral processing or refining operations in such places as Brampton, Ottawa, and Port Hope. 

"Ontario's vast mineral wealth in the north is perfectly complemented by a world-class manufacturing sector in the south," says Rickford in the strategy document.