From mining, to manufacturing, to charging, Canadian businesses and workers are attracting historic investments in the electric vehicle supply chain. When electric vehicles are made from Canadian minerals, assembled by Canadian auto workers, and powered at Canadian-made chargers, we secure and create jobs, grow our economy, and keep our air clean now and into the future.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today met with workers at the Saskatoon facility of Vital Metals, Canada’s first rare earths producer. Rare earth elements are a critical mineral used in clean technology like electric vehicles and wind turbines. The Government of Canada recently announced $5 million in funding to help establish processing and production at this facility, part of a series of federal investments to support jobs and the growth of Canada’s critical minerals sector.
Critical minerals are the building blocks of the clean economy and are in increasing demand globally. Canada’s first Critical Minerals Strategy, released in December 2022, is a roadmap to make Canada a global supplier of choice for critical minerals.
Canadian workers and businesses are already leading on clean energy and technology, and the components that go into it. As demand continues to grow, positioning Canada as a reliable supplier will create even more Canadian jobs, grow our economy, and cut pollution to help fight climate change.
Quote
“The world wants clean technology, and Canada has the resources, the expertise, and the skilled workers to meet that demand. By developing and processing our critical minerals here in Canada – the first step in the clean technology supply chain – we can create good middle-class jobs all while keeping our air clean for generations to come.”
Quick Facts
- Critical minerals are central to major global industries like clean technology, health care, aerospace, and computing. They are used in solar panels, phones, and computers, and are vital to produce electric vehicles. Permanent magnets and rare earth elements are important inputs into electric vehicle motors and many clean technology applications.
- Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy is backed by up to $3.8 billion in federal support, announced in Budget 2022. The proposed funding covers the whole critical minerals supply chain, from geoscience and exploration to mineral processing, manufacturing, and recycling applications, including support for research, development, and technological deployment.
- Saskatchewan is a Canadian leader in producing sustainable critical minerals, with a rich supply of uranium. The world’s largest producer of potash, the province is home to the world’s most sustainable potash mine.
- Recent federal investments in the development of critical minerals include a contribution of up to $222 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund to help Rio Tinto Fer et Titane to increase its production of critical minerals and a $27 million contribution to E3 Lithium Ltd. through the Strategic Innovation Fund’s Net Zero Accelerator initiative.
- Canada currently produces 60 minerals and metals at 200 mines.
- Vital Metals is Canada’s first rare earths miner. The company crushes and sorts ore at the Nechalacho mine in the Northwest Territories, before sending the ore to the Saskatoon rare earths extraction plant.
