Natural Resources Committee on Sept. 25th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Good morning, colleagues. Welcome.

I call this meeting to order.

Hello, everyone.

I am very pleased to be here with you this morning.

Let me start by acknowledging that we are meeting on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation.

Welcome to meeting number three of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room. In the second hour, some of our witnesses will be attending via Zoom.

Before we continue, I would like to ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the cards on the table. These measures are in place to help prevent audio and feedback incidents, and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including, and especially, our amazing interpreters. You will also notice a QR code on the card, which links to a short awareness video.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of our witnesses and, of course, our members. Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. As a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, there's a “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on Thursday, September 18, the committee is commencing the study of the development of critical minerals in Canada. There was consensus among committee members that we should start with this study, which is very important for our country and for your communities.

I want to thank the clerk for receiving the lists of witnesses and reaching out to some of them already. We have a full panel today. Normally, we try to have only three so that we have more time with each of those witnesses.

Thank you, colleagues, all of you, for your lists of witnesses. I think you know, those who have been in committee before, that we leave it to the clerk to reach out, assemble witness panels as they are available, try to balance among the parties and, hopefully, get down the list.

With that, Madam Clerk, I think we can turn to our witnesses.

I would like to welcome our witnesses. Members on our first panel are from the Natural Resources department: Isabella Chan, senior assistant deputy minister, lands and minerals sector; Kimberly Lavoie, assistant deputy minister, Nòkwewashk—

[Kimberly Lavoie, Assistant Deputy Minister, Nòkwewashk, Department of Natural Resources]

Nòkwewashk is an Algonquin word for “sweetgrass”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

—Amanda Wilson, director general, policy and economics branch; and Andrew Ghattas, senior director, critical minerals centre of excellence.

You will have five minutes for your opening remarks. I know that colleagues will be anxious to ask you questions. Your time starts now.

[Isabella Chan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Lands and Minerals Sector, Department of Natural Resources]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the committee members for the invitation today.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and to contribute to your study on critical minerals.

Again, my name is Isabella Chan, and I'm the senior assistant deputy minister of the lands and minerals sector at Natural Resources Canada.

Critical minerals are the foundation upon which modern technology is built.

Growing demand, heightened geopolitical competition and the drive toward rearmament have changed the calculation on critical minerals. They are no longer just economic commodities. They are strategic assets essential to our national and economic security.

Canada is endowed with enormous resource wealth spread across critical-mineral-rich regions from coast to coast to coast, including rural, remote and indigenous communities.

For example, Canada holds one of the largest known reserves of rare earth elements globally, estimated at over 15 million tonnes in 2023. Canada is well positioned to be a leader in responsible, inclusive and sustainable production of critical minerals, and the growing global demand for critical minerals represents a generational opportunity for our country. Canada is already a top-five global producer for 10 critical minerals with the potential for more.

In 2023, Canada had 46 critical minerals mines and 31 processing facilities, as well as 171 event-stage critical minerals projects.

The Canadian critical minerals strategy, launched in December 2022, has laid a solid foundation for critical minerals development in Canada.

Through the strategy, Canada's whole-of-government approach to critical mineral development is collaborative, forward-looking, iterative and long-term.

Implementation of this strategy involves 15 federal departments and agencies, as well as collaboration with provincial, territorial, indigenous, industry, and other Canadian and international partners.

In the first year of the implementation of the strategy, Canada already saw a 15% increase in the domestic production of key critical minerals. We intend to extract, process, manufacture and recycle critical minerals in Canada by building up every part of the supply chain at home, maximizing economic growth and employment.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance has consistently ranked Canada at or near the top of its ranking for the battery supply chain and for overall critical minerals production competitiveness.

We have also announced funding for a number of strategic programs to help advance Canada's critical minerals, including working with provinces and territories to build infrastructure to get mining projects online faster, which includes the $1.5-billion critical minerals infrastructure fund.

The development of critical minerals value chains also represents a significant opportunity to advance economic reconciliation and to grow the indigenous economy through jobs, services and ownership opportunities.

Through the critical minerals research, development and demonstration program, Canada is supporting the development of new processes and technologies and is assisting project proponents in bringing their technologies to commercial scale. For instance, the Government of Canada, alongside Saskatchewan, has supported the Saskatchewan Research Council's vertically integrated rare earth processing facility with a $21-million investment.

Canada needs more mines and processing facilities to come online to support domestic industries and to help our allies diversify sources of supply for dual-use applications. To this end, the government passed the Building Canada Act in June 2025 and created the major projects office in August.

Canada is also working with allied countries to foster the development of secure and non-concentrated critical mineral supply chains.

At the G7 Leaders' Summit in June, under Canada's presidency, leaders announced the G7 critical minerals action plan and welcomed a new critical minerals production alliance to urgently address supply chain vulnerabilities and promote international co-operation among like-minded countries, as well as leverage Canada's resources to become a reliable and leading supplier.

Canada has what the world needs, and our minerals are no longer just economic drivers. They are strategic capabilities and key components of our national and economic security.

Thank you again for your invitation. My colleagues and I will be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

That's five minutes right on the dot.

Thank you, Ms. Chan.

Colleagues, now we go over to you for questions. We're going to start with Mr. Martel for six minutes.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here today.

Canada is very rich in critical minerals. However, we hear that mining projects are having trouble getting off the ground, that it's always complicated, that the delays are endless and that there's a lot of red tape. All of this discourages investors. Projects often don't succeed. We have a lot of resources, but we're not able to get to the end of the projects. We regularly hear that red tape and regulations are cumbersome.

What can you tell me about that?

[Isabella Chan]

Thank you for your question.

I acknowledge that to bring a mine online, a number of steps need to be undertaken. Through the critical minerals strategy that Canada launched in 2022, we are taking steps to support mining projects to come online faster.

First of all, as I noted, there is a critical minerals infrastructure fund to support the infrastructure needed to bring our mineral resources to market. Second, I noted earlier in my remarks the G7 critical minerals production alliance. One of the challenges our mining projects face is not just the regulatory steps in seeking approval but also the fact that it is very challenging these days to raise the capital necessary to bring the projects online.

Hence, under Canada's presidency, we are launching the critical minerals production alliance to bring the supply side as well as the demand side together and match them up in order to support our projects that come online.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

What you've put in place is interesting, but it doesn't guarantee that, when projects arrive here, they will take less time.

I'd like to know how many mining projects in Canada have been launched and completed in the last 10 years, from drilling to obtaining a product.

[Isabella Chan]

The exact number for over the last 10 years, Mr. Chair, I could provide to the committee in writing.

I do note that currently we have 46 critical minerals projects that are active and 31 midstream processing sites that are online. They would have been part of the last 10 years in projects that we supported to come online.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

On average, how many years did it take to get these projects up and running?

I would like to have those answers if you can answer me, of course.

[Isabella Chan]

A number of factors affect how long it takes for a mine to come online. There are numbers reported out there of around 20 years, but I would note too that a number of mines can come online in a time frame much less than that. That's precisely why, too, the major projects office was established—to help support and fast-track especially those projects that are important to our national interests. The average number reported out there is 20 years, but I do note that there is a range. Some actually do come online much faster than the 20 years noted.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Can you acknowledge that excessive federal regulation can discourage investment and undermine economic competitiveness in Canada? Many investors don't choose Canada, even though we have extraordinary resources. They go elsewhere to make sure that their projects are carried out. Are you aware of how burdensome the regulations are?

[Isabella Chan]

I would note that there are regulations that are not just at the federal level. Resource development is also under provincial and territorial jurisdiction. The certainty that our regulatory regime provides when bringing on mining projects is actually a positive, because it provides certainty for the investment sector.

Through Natural Resources Canada, we have established a centre of excellence that provides navigation support to our mining projects to navigate not only the provincial and territorial regulatory regime but also the federal regime, to support the navigation of regulatory—

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

I'm sorry to interrupt, Ms. Chan.

We're talking about environmental assessment. Quebec has one and the federal government has one as well. What is the added value of the federal environmental assessment?

[Isabella Chan]

I'm going to turn to my colleague, Kimberly Lavoie, for that question.

[Kimberly Lavoie]

Thank you very much for your question.

As you said, there's a provincial system, and there's also a federal system, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

It is working very closely with all provincial jurisdictions to look at how we can coordinate our efforts. We have a substitution agreement with B.C. That is the only jurisdiction at the moment, but we would welcome substitution agreements with all provinces. I understand that conversations are under way with Quebec.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Was there an exercise—

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you, Mr. Martel. We can come back to you a little later, so save that question.

We have Mr. McKinnon.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

The concept of critical minerals is a bit blurry to me. As we're getting started on this study, I wonder if we could expand on what we mean by critical minerals. What does it take to be a critical mineral?

[Isabella Chan]

There are currently 34 critical minerals listed on the Canadian critical minerals list. There are two specific criteria that need to be met in order to be on the list under the Canadian definition. Number one is the risk to our supply chain, and number two is that there is a reasonable chance of Canada producing it. There are also three additional criteria, one of which is whether it supports the green transition, and another is whether it is a critical mineral that we could produce to support our allies' needs.

The critical minerals list was first created in 2021. We updated it in 2024. We made a commitment to look at the list at least every three years to ensure it is up to date and reflects the current demands in the market.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Okay, so it's not a case of, well, this is iron or this is steel, therefore it's critical. It's a matter of how it impacts our economy and our defence strategy and so forth. Is that correct?

[Isabella Chan]

That is correct. In terms of the development of the list, we also consult with our provincial and territorial partners, with industry, as well as with indigenous groups, so there is also a reflection of the market demands and what we are able to produce here domestically but also looking at our allies' needs. There is a full, robust consultation that supports the creation of the list.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

I'd like to build on Mr. Martel's questions a little bit. I'm very interested in the relationship between the provincial and federal regulatory environment and how we can streamline that and improve it.

[Kimberly Lavoie]

As I was saying, we're a federation and we have different systems. Mining is, by and large, provincially regulated. It's only federally regulated once it gets to a certain threshold. I started talking about an opportunity to have co-operation agreements or even substitution agreements where the province does one process for both the provincial government and the federal government, and that will lead to much earlier decisions.

We're having conversations around what those arrangements could look like, how we can work together not only in the environmental assessment process but also on the permitting side. Oftentimes, we require similar information for different permits that are federal or provincial, so we're looking at co-operation for permitting as well as co-operation on the environmental assessment. The goal is to get those assessments down to under two years for all projects.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

You mentioned you have an arrangement with British Columbia, which is my province, so I'm glad to hear that. Could you tell us more about that?