National Defence Committee on March 23rd, 2026

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

In that regard, if we have access to the waste or these by-products from our mining, it is much cheaper to be producing and refining those by-products than trying to identify additional deposits of critical minerals. Is that correct?

[Isabella Chan]

I would say that it's generally correct, in that you're basically bypassing some of the upfront investment needed to get a greenfield mining project online, which requires much enabling infrastructure.

The other end of the spectrum is the need for technology. For instance, to extract from tailings, let's say, for some of the by-products, it requires a technology to be proven. There are a number of pilot projects that we have started to look at on how we can extract from tailings or from a recycling perspective.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Mr. Savard‑Tremblay, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here and for their presentations.

First, I'd like to know what critical minerals are currently being mined in Canada but sent abroad for processing.

This is for either of you, because I think you could both answer.

[Isabella Chan]

Since a number of critical minerals are produced here in Canada and there aren't enough plants to process them, some critical minerals are sent elsewhere for processing. I can send you a list after the meeting.

For example, copper is one for which I would say there's much production out of our Pacific coast that is sent over to Asia for processing.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

The Canadian critical minerals strategy, which dates back to 2022, if I'm not mistaken, and the G7 action plan mention the government's desire to further develop the processing sector in Canada.

Could you tell us what has been done so far? It was announced four years ago, so where are we at today? Does this have to do with defence—a question for Ms. Hawden—or is it more about clean technologies, such as wind turbines, for example?

[Isabella Chan]

To be clearer, I will answer in English.

We recognize the need for processing capability, and I would note a couple of recent key examples that demonstrate the direction we're heading in.

Last October, we announced investments into a company called Ucore, which has the capability to process rare earth elements—specifically, gadolinium and samarium, which have a defence application. I would also note that most recently, we have been collaborating with the Province of British Columbia, as well as Alberta, to look at copper-smelting capability to build up the processing we could have on the west coast.

Those are some of the examples by which we're looking at how to build up our domestic capabilities when it comes to the midstream, as I call it, in the value chain. The issue is that when it comes to midstream processing, many of these segments are not profit-making segments. The margin in terms of making a profit is not high. As such, without much government intervention investment, they would not necessarily get into a final investment decision.

I'll turn it to Wendy.

[Wendy Hadwen]

Thank you very much for the question.

As to national defence, the government recognized several years ago that it had to focus on critical minerals, but it's only been in the past year that we've had the funding and an approach to move forward.

Of course, we started with the graphite and scandium projects, because we could roll them out. We do have a long way to go, so we have to start with what can be done. In our view, that means focusing on the sovereign capabilities set out in the document. We're going to be rolling those out as part of space launch projects, which we talked about earlier. We will then be able to determine what the next priorities are. So it's a bit of a marriage between what is possible in industry and current national defence needs. As far as we're concerned, we see only opportunities to do both at the same time.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

My next question is for both of you.

In your opinion, if there were disruptions in supply chains, would the availability of certain materials be compromised? Which minerals would be the most at risk, if any?

[Wendy Hadwen]

Let me say first that we are seeing risks in all of our supply chains, in real time, especially aluminum, where there are a lot of opportunities. Nonetheless, we are facing a lack of reliability in the relationships on which we had built all our economic expectations.

As a result, it has become quite urgent to invest in the entire production chain here in Canada. As Ms. Chan said though, it's expensive; we will have to prioritize.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

You have 20 seconds.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

In that case, I won't ask any more questions.

That said, Ms. Chan, I would remind you that you said you could send us a list of critical minerals. I would therefore ask you to provide it to the committee so that we can have the information. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Mr. Kibble, we'll go over to you for five minutes, sir.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much to our witnesses for being here.

We've heard some pretty good expressions and terms: “unique position”, “leadership in NATO”, “importance of supply chains”, “concrete steps” and “addressing vulnerabilities”. A lot of these statements, from what I'm hearing, are forward-looking plans or intentions for what we're going to do, but I'd like to look at some things we've actually done.

Currently, what do we have for stockpiles of these critical minerals? We've heard other people's testimony, but I'd like to clarify that.

[Isabella Chan]

Thank you very much, Chair, for the question.

Last October, under the Defence Production Act, we were able to identify and list under the GIC the critical minerals that we're going to stockpile. As one of the next steps following that, we immediately executed two offtake agreements, which I mentioned during my opening remarks. One is on graphite, and the other is on scandium.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Do we have stockpiles of any of these things? I'm not talking about intentions. Do we have anything right now?

[Isabella Chan]

Those are live agreements that we're finalizing to be able to stockpile.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Okay, we have an agreement, so we have a stockpile of paper.

[Isabella Chan]

They're actually offtakes that we have; they are term sheets that we have already signed.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Okay, so we have term sheets and agreements, but no actual stockpiles. If we did have stockpiles, what do you think would be a reasonable amount for Canada? Is there a way to measure it? Do we want 300 pounds of something or a five-year supply? What would you consider an appropriate amount for where we should be in terms of strategic importance?

[Isabella Chan]

Based on my opening remarks, different critical minerals have different markets and different usage, so in aluminum, we're talking about a million tonnes, versus in scandium, we're just talking about double-digit tonnes—80 tonnes—that we're looking at.

It depends on, number one, in which part of the value chain, for instance, our domestic needs would be. Number two is looking at the global demand, especially in the advanced supply chain. Number three is looking at our capabilities in what we're able to produce.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you. It sounds as though we need a plan—a very complicated plan, obviously—to define all the different stockpiles.

As well, looking at our track record, I'd like to speak about antimony. You mentioned that as one of NATO's critical minerals. It's used for fire-retardant material and other defence applications. China produces 110,000 tonnes per year.

How much antimony does Canada produce?

[Isabella Chan]

I'm happy to share the exact figure in writing to the committee.