Processing

Canada has the stability and innovation in place to support new growth opportunities for critical mineral processing

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Canada presents a unique opportunity for both financial investors and industry players seeking to secure and optimize their critical minerals value chains.

Backed by government funding and powerful tax incentives, Canada is cultivating the environment. The Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy offers the potential for companies and investors to capture value, while also prioritizing sustainable, responsible development.

number of critical mineral processing facilities in Canada

Source: Library of Parliament

Businesses from around the world look to Canada to build and operate critical mineral processing centres.

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Other (Germany, Poland, South Africa and Switzerland)

Businesses from around the world look to Canada to build and operate critical mineral processing centres.

Click to sort:

All

Canada

Australia

Brazil

United Kingdom

United States

Other (Germany, Poland, South Africa and Switzerland)

Advancing large-scale projects

Canada is prioritizing projects of national interest by applying accelerated approval processes. Major project approval deadlines are reduced to two years, through a ‘one-project, one-review’ approach that saves time and resources.

The newly formed Major Project Office provides a single set of conditions and guidance for projects to advance the national Critical Minerals Strategy. Five of its first set of projects under priority consideration are within the critical minerals industry:

The McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project, in Saskatchewan

Red Chris Mine expansion and emissions reduction project, in British Columbia

Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project, in Ontario

Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie Mine, in Québec

Northcliff Resources’ Sisson Mine, in New Brunswick

This $500 million fund provides strategic financial support to accelerate provincial processing capacity, encouraging a locally made critical mineral supply.

In 2025, the CIB announced its first critical minerals investment: a $55 million infrastructure loan to Torngat Metals for its Strange Lake project.

This is a major new fund, first announced in the Government of Canada’s Budget 2025. It allocates $2 billion for projects through direct equity investments, loan guarantees, and offtake agreements to help move near-term projects into production and provide greater revenue certainty.

Also announced in Budget 2025, this new fund absorbs the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) and provides up to $1.5 billion by 2030 to support projects at the upstream and midstream segments of the value chain. The fund is focused on building the infrastructure that enables to get new mines and processing facilities into production faster.

potential value of a joint investment between Natural Resources Canada and the Government of British Columbia to upgrade key highway infrastructure

Source: Government of Canada

invested in innovation over next three years to secure global critical minerals supply chains, part of the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan

Source: G7 2025 Kananaskis

Canada is a trusted global partner and reliable jurisdiction for mining, instilling confidence in supply-chain integrity. The Canadian governments and industry actively collaborate with international partners to align policies, raise global ESG standards, advance joint R&D and encourage new investment opportunities.

This cooperation includes bilateral agreements – notably, the 2020 Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals – as well as multilateral partnerships, such as the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance and the Canada-EU Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials.

The Canadian-led G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan recognizes the importance of critical minerals for digital and energy-secure economies. The action plan includes initiatives to mobilize capital and invest in collaborations through the Resilient and Inclusive Supply-Chain Enhancement (RISE) partnership.

International investment and partnership opportunities

International businesses are already operating across Canada’s critical minerals landscape. Of Canada’s 32 critical mineral processing centres, approximately three-quarters are owned by foreign-based businesses.

One example of international collaboration is the U.S. Department of Defense investing US$20 million in Electra Battery Materials’ Ontario Refinery, in 2024.

Programs and funding for sustainable processing innovation

Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program

The CMRDD is a $246.3 million program dedicated to supporting the development of innovative processing technologies. This includes technologies that unlock new critical minerals sources, promote circularity and reduce environmental impact.

Projects that have received funding are focused on, for example, improving nickel processing; conversion of Canadian lithium brine into battery precursor materials; high-purity cobalt sulphate production; and the recovery of critical minerals from both primary and secondary sources.

Recipients of funding to date include projects from Rio Tino and Vale Canada.

In November 2025, Rio Tinto and Canada Growth Fund Inc. (CGF) announced a transaction to advance the Canadian production of scandium oxide in Sorel-Tracy, Québec, at Rio Tinto’s Critical Minerals and Metallurgical Complex.

CGF is investing approximately $25 million to support production at North America’s sole facility capable of supplying this material. This was to expand the facility’s capacity to nine tonnes per annum, strengthening Canada’s critical minerals supply chain.

Processing projects announced under the Critical Minerals Production Alliance

Included in these are developments in the critical mineral processing space:

Ucore Rare Metals Inc.’s facility

A conditionally approved investment agreed with the government of Canada of up to $36.3 million.

Rare earth feedstock procurement secured with Hastings and Abx, Australia.

Technology agreement made with Metallium (Australia) for broadening processing inputs with e-waste and mine tailings.

Supported by end customers Vacuumshmelze (Germany) and Permag (USA) with a Memorandum of Understanding.

The Government of Ontario has committed to advancing necessary regulatory permits to accelerate project development.

Northern Graphite’s Lac des Îles project

Lac des Îles Mine is North America's only natural graphite producer.

There is a letter of intent for an offtake and toll processing agreement with Alkeemia, Italy. The company already operates a graphite purification pilot plant in Porto Marghera.

This arrangement will also support the implementation of Alkeemia’s technology at Northern Graphite’s planned anode facilities in France and Quebec.

Focus Graphite’s chemical-free electrothermal purification project

The project is to produce ultra-high-purity graphite for the global battery, defence and advanced-materials markets.

It will use Canada's first high-temperature electrothermal purification process. Chemical-free, this will purify natural flake graphite sourced from the Lac Knife and Lac Tétépisca deposits.

Canada is collaborating with partners from Ukraine: Thermal & Material Engineering Center (TMEC), and the United States: American Energy Technologies Company (AETC).

Telescope Innovations Corp’s low-cost lithium sulfide manufacturing project

available support for innovative processing technologies from the Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program

Source: Government of Canada

Critical Minerals Traceability Project (CMTP)

The CMTP aims to enhance the security and reliability of Canada’s critical minerals through grants to private-sector, commercial-stage pilot traceability projects.

In December 2024, funding was announced for five projects focused on enhancing the transparency and security of Canada’s critical mineral supply chains.

Canada's leadership in critical minerals processing is delivering technological breakthroughs, creating new opportunities to build on existing successes.

The Saskatchewan Research Council’s Rare Earth Processing Facility is the first project in North America to process increasingly essential rare earth elements. The facility can produce approximately 400 of neodymium-praseodymium (NDPR) annually to fulfill commercial agreements, offering a model for rare earth element expansion.

Electra Battery Materials’ Ontario Refinery is North America’s first and only cobalt sulfate facility. It has the capacity to supply over 1 million electric vehicles per year at full production.

CAPEX within Canada’s downstream mineral-processing industries during 2024

Source: Government of Canada

Critical Minerals Traceability Project (CMTP)

The CMTP aims to enhance the security and reliability of Canada’s critical minerals through grants to private-sector, commercial-stage pilot traceability projects.

In December 2024, funding was announced for five projects focused on enhancing the transparency and security of Canada’s critical mineral supply chains.

Quartech Systems Ltd.

Funding: $55,000

Open-source traceability application

Enhances interoperability across supply chains.

Enables traceability for climate action and environmental protection.

Aisimpro Inc.

Funding: $123,750

Blockchain-powered traceability system

Tracks critical minerals through the supply chain.

Measures and verifies ESG performance in mining operations.

Peer Ledger Inc.

Funding: $165,300

Online regulatory technology sandbox

Deploys digital solutions for supply chain transparency.

Optel Group (Optel Vision Inc.)

Funding: $165,300

Greenhouse gas and ESG tracking

Establishes transparent ESG performance metrics.

Traces Canadian battery supply chain from source to end-use. 

Northern Block

Funding: $165,300

Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative data platform

Improves availability of TSM data.

Increases value and accessibility of industry sustainability metrics.

Canada's leadership in critical minerals processing is delivering technological breakthroughs, creating new opportunities to build on existing successes.

Electra Battery Materials’ Ontario Refinery is North America’s first and only cobalt sulfate facility. It has the capacity to supply over 1 million electric vehicles per year at full production.

CAPEX within Canada’s downstream mineral-processing industries during 2024

Source: Government of Canada

ELYSIS is a Canadian enterprise, formed through a partnership between Rio Tinto, ALCOA and the governments of Canada and Quebec. It represents a disruptive technology partnership between business and government to deliver carbon-free aluminum smelting.

The technology ELYSIS uses eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the aluminum smelting process, with oxygen as its sole byproduct. This delivers several profound benefits:

Environmental impact: 

If adopted by Canada alone, the technology has the potential to reduce annual GHG emissions by approximately 7 million tonnes (equivalent to removing 1.8 million cars from the road).

Commercialization at scale: 

The technology can operate on an industrial scale, with Rio Tinto installing ELYSIS technology at its Arvida smelter in Québec, a new joint venture with the province’s government.

Operational benefits:

ELYSIS technology reduces operating costs and increases production capacity on new aluminum smelters as well as existing ones, where it can be retrofitted.

Canada’s mining capabilities and processing innovation are delivering new opportunities across supply chains.

Download our guide to Critical Minerals opportunities in Canada

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Explore critical minerals opportunities across the value chain

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Why choose Canada

Canada is a leading destination for critical minerals opportunities, offering a trusted partner dedicated to making projects happen.

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Financing

Bold steps are being taken to shorten timelines and lower risk for businesses investing in critical minerals operations across Canada.

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End customers Vacuumshmelze (Germany) and Permag (United States) have a memorandum of understanding.

Rare earth feedstock procurement secured with Hastings and Abx, Australia.

The Government of Ontario is committed to advancing necessary regulatory permitting to accelerate project development.

Technology agreement made with Metallium (Australia) for broadening processing inputs with e-waste and tailings.

A conditionally approved investment agreed with the government of Canada of up to $36.3 million.

End customers Vacuumshmelze (Germany) and Permag (United States) have a memorandum of understanding.

Technology agreement made with Metallium (Australia) for broadening processing inputs with e-waste and tailings.

The Government of Ontario is committed to advancing necessary regulatory permitting to accelerate project development.

Rare earth feedstock procurement secured with Hastings and Abx, Australia.

32 facilities

International investment and partnership opportunities

Critical Minerals Traceability Project (CMTP)

Organisation:

Funding:

Technology and focus:

Quartech Systems Ltd.

​$55,000

Aisimpro Inc.

$123,750

Advancing technologies

$5.3 billion

Explore critical minerals opportunities across the value chain

$55,000