Governments increase support for critical minerals at Toronto mining conference

TORONTO – Critical mineral projects got increased support from government during a major mining conference on Monday as the rush to secure supplies accelerates. 

At the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto, the federal government announced a new round of project funding while the Ontario government announced accelerated development of an access road in the north of the province. 

The support comes as countries look to secure supply chains amid rising trade tension, as well as benefit from the rising demand for key metals like copper, nickel and lithium needed for priorities like electrification and defence.

It also comes as the mining industry itself gets swept up in the wider challenges, said Don Lindsay, former CEO of Teck Resources Ltd., said in a keynote speech Monday.

“The industry faces real challenges, serious ones, geopolitical risk. The world is more fragmented than it has been in decades,” said Lindsay. 

“We’re seeing supply chain vulnerability, we’re seeing countries trying to secure critical minerals for themselves. We’re exposed to geopolitical risk like we’ve never been before.”

The trends have led politicians to get onside, he said.

“Prime ministers and presidents talk about accelerating permits and development. They get it, finally.”

At the conference Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford released an accelerated schedule for construction of a road to develop the so-called Ring of Fire critical minerals region of northern Ontario.

The plan is to start construction in June to have the roads completed by 2031, several years ahead of the previous schedule.

“With President Trump’s tariffs causing so much uncertainty, we don’t have a second to waste,” Ford said. 

Federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson announced 30 critical minerals partnerships and investments at the conference under the Critical Minerals Production Alliance.

Deals include up to $7 million to Greenland Resources’ Malmbjerg project in Greenland, $9.1 million to Cyclic Materials Inc.’s rare earths elements recycling centre in Kingston, Ont. and $16.7 million for First Phosphate’s Bégin-Lamarche demonstration and feasibility project in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Que.

“Canada and our allies abroad are putting real capital behind the secure, sustainable supply chains that our economies and our defence industries depend on,” said Hodgson in a statement.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s joint statement released Monday with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also underscored a commitment to deepening partnerships in resource sectors.

The announcement included the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals value chains, and noted India’s presence at the PDAC conference in Toronto.

The push to develop critical minerals will, however, likely need continued government support because of private funding shortfalls, said an RBC report out Friday.

The report noted there’s a lack of patient risk capital, in part because of the past hollowing out of Canada’s mining industry that has limited the number of national champions.

It said that between 2005 and 2012, more than $119 billion in Canadian base metals and steel assets were transferred to foreign ownership, including the likes of Inco, Alcan and Falconbridge.

Anglo American plc. is meanwhile working to close its takeover of Teck Resources Ltd., though the two have billed it as a merger of equals that will create a Vancouver-based critical minerals champion. 

The RBC report said the federal government needs to scale the use of sovereign capital across the full value chain, noting Ottawa’s $2-billion Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund lacks heft.

It also advocated for more public spending on infrastructure to help projects, noting the $2.4 billion in road and transmission funding needed to get Ontario’s Ring of Fire going. 

Clustering critical minerals processing, attracting foreign major miners, and cautiously forging closer ties with U.S. supply chains are also important, the report said.

Canada considers 34 minerals and metals to be part of its official critical minerals list, which includes a range of resources from aluminum to zinc.  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2026.

Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version said the Ontario government expects to complete the Ring of Fire access roads by 2030.