Step-by-Step: Federal Policies on Critical Minerals
In a new race to stockpile critical minerals, who would win: The tortoise who has been late to start investing or the hare who is more than 20 years in the industry? And can the tortoise catch up to the hare? That is the question Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to answer through his 2025 mandate letter.
Critical Minerals in Canada
Canada has a strategic advantage as a state that is both resource-rich and a robust mineral exporter; yet, like many other states, Canada requires minerals to innovate its markets (Government of Canada, 2022). The Government of Canada put out its Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022 that outlines Canada’s critical minerals list. The list of materials that are chosen in Canada are based on the Government of Canada’s criteria, as there does not exist a consensus on how to define if a mineral is critical. Critical minerals are determined by a country’s criteria of economic importance and how likely a supply will be available. This has resulted in 34 minerals that meet the criteria in Canada, as of 2024 (Government of Canada, 2025a). These minerals include aluminum, potash, lithium, and uranium, to name a few.
Carney has set out in his mandate to improve Canada’s international standing as an energy superpower, given its unique position as a nation that is able to potentially supply minerals to various international markets (Prime Minister of Canada, 2025a). As nations begin their transition to low-carbon technologies, minerals have grown increasingly important for innovation (Government of Canada, 2025b). Prime Minister Carney wants Canada to be at the center of it all. The issues that we face today lie in our infrastructural hurdles. This can be felt most notably within the industry of mineral processing, which has led the Government of Canada to attempt to catch up with competitors abroad. Now, in a global race to secure these supply chains with our allies, the Government of Canada has become increasingly innovative in finding new ways to attract investment and workers to Canada.
Canadian Policy and Legislation
The Critical Minerals Strategy is geared towards stockpiling natural resources, securing supply chains, and providing the necessary capital for new projects across the country (Government of Canada, 2022). The policy outlines that some areas and industries require more assistance to achieve growth and development. This is because, within Canada, mines require at least 15-20 years before becoming fully operational (Vivoda, 2023). Canada’s strength in mining rests in its ability to extract and process minerals and metals for both its domestic and international markets (Mining Association of Canada, 2024). However, midstream industries, such as smelting, have faced infrastructural and technological limitations. These midstream industries supply a variety of downstream industries, such as the automotive industries, battery manufacturers, and every other industry that manufactures items for digital use (Leonida, 2025). The mandate would expand our midstream industries’ capacity in exporting refined metals and manufactured goods internationally.
Canada has likewise introduced new bills into legislation to assist in attracting investment and reducing the timeline for the approval of projects. By cutting down the timeline, the uncertainty surrounding funding and approval for projects that require multiple levels of provincial and federal approval disappears. The One Canadian Economy Act (2025) and the Building Canada Act (BCA, 2025) are intended to fast-track and streamline approvals for new projects that are considered of national importance and are not limited to any type of project. Complementing these legislative efforts, the Prime Minister’s Office announced the creation of the Canada Growth Fund, a $15 billion public investment fund designed to attract private capital to Canadian projects and businesses (Prime Minister of Canada, 2025b). Together, these measures aim to position Canada as a leading long-term destination for mining by signaling stability and opportunity to global investors and allies. However, this positioning is constrained by key structural challenges. While Canada possesses abundant natural resources, it lacks sufficient domestic refining capacity. In response to regulatory and project approval barriers, the Major Projects Office has introduced Projects of National Interest to streamline development. These projects would be fast-tracked to receive regulatory approval to begin building in two years.
However, while the BCA offers speed in approval, it does so by trading off environmental regulations and the duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples on treaty lands (Huang, 2025). Will the federal government try to push through and ignore these responsibilities and regulations to build up the mining industry? Or will it take its time to invest, collaborate, and develop projects within existing legislative frameworks?
Canada’s choice to focus investment on this industry has been in part a response to the raised concerns of securing and maintaining supply chains abroad. Canadian foreign policy on critical minerals shifted after China’s restrictions on their exports on rare earth minerals and related technologies in 2023 (Risse, 2025). Canada’s reason for enacting this type of legislation is to catch up with our global competitors. China is currently holding a near monopoly on existing processing and manufacturing of minerals into goods for different markets. This means they have rendered the world reliant on procurement from China, creating a level of monopolization that deters investors from entering the market (Maloney, n.d.). This means that China’s ability to limit and control the flow of its goods into international markets can be used as a tool for retaliation.
Canada sits in a precarious spot as it tries to balance its domestic and foreign policies related to critical minerals. On one side, the Government of Canada and provinces have a responsibility to consult and collaborate with our Indigenous populations about the impacts of these projects. On the other side, they have a responsibility to the Canadian economy and improving Canadian national interests abroad. At its core, the Carney government is looking at this as an opportunity to invest in Canada long-term. The large investments from the Government of Canada into infrastructure projects will, in time, reduce the barriers that Canada faces in both its mining and technology-related sectors. However, it is uncertain what the results of these policies will be and who will be the most affected by them.
Conclusions: Cautions Going Forward
The response from stakeholders across the country, from industry to environmentalists, have been open to how the BCA will affect their interests. Business interests have been positive to the BCA, as it incentivizes investment in mining. However, from the Indigenous and environmental perspective, their opinions have been wary and skeptical as to what the trade-offs are for sidelining existing environmental regulations. If stakeholders have competing priorities, where does the government set its priorities? As the government considers new forms of incentives to attract investments to Canada, it must also be aware that fast-tracking projects will not negate its duty to consult, and the environmental standards and regulations that are in place. The government must consider what critical minerals will mean for Canadians, or else we risk trading off Canadian values in exchange for Canada’s economic strategic interests.
Author: Valentina Gomez-Martinez is a current Master of Public Policy student at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. Dr. Adriana Guatame-Garcia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment and the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
References
Building Canada Act, S.C. 2025, c. 2, s. 4, https://canlii.ca/t/56kg9
Government of Canada. (2022). Critical Minerals Strategy. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/nrcan-rncan/site/critical-minerals/Critical-minerals-strategyDec09.pdf
Government of Canada. (2025a, May 5). Canada’s critical minerals. https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/critical-minerals-an-opportunity-for-canada.html
Government of Canada. (2025b, December 3). Programs and funding for critical minerals projects. https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/federal-support-for-critical-mineral-projects-and-value-chains.html
Huang, Z. (2025, October 29). Fast-track legislation raises concerns over Indigenous consultation. JFK Law. https://jfklaw.ca/newsletter-articles/fast-track-legislation-raises-concerns-over-indigenous-consultation/
Leonida, Carly. (2025, October 8). Downstream companies are sleepwalking into a minerals famine. The Intelligent Miner. https://theintelligentminer.com/2025/10/08/downstream-companies-are-sleepwalking-into-a-minerals-famine/
Maloney, J. (n.d.). From Mineral Exploration to Advanced Manufacturing: Developing Value Chains for Critical Minerals in Canada. https://www.noscommunes.ca/Content/Committee/432/RNNR/Reports/RP11412677/rnnrrp06/rnnrrp06-e.pdf
Mining Association of Canada. (2024). The Mining Story 2024, Canadian Mining Industry Facts and Figures. https://mining.ca/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/06/Facts-and-Figures-2023-FINAL-DIGITAL.pdf
One Canadian Economy Act, S.C. 2025, c. 2, https://canlii.ca/t/56kg5
Prime Minister of Canada. (2025a, May 21). Mandate Letter. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters/2025/05/21/mandate-letter
Prime Minister of Canada. (2025b, October 23). Prime Minister Carney announces major new investment in power. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2025/10/23/prime-minister-carney-announces-major-new-investment-power
Risse, M. (2025, October 9). A widening net: A short history of Chinese export controls on critical raw materials and their usage. Global Trade Alert. https://globaltradealert.org/blog/a-short-history-of-chinese-export-controls-on-critical-raw-materials
Vivoda, V. (2023). Friend-shoring and critical minerals: Exploring the role of the Minerals Security Partnership. Energy Research & Social Science, 100, 103085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103085