Wedoany.com Report-Nov. 3, Canada has announced C$6.4 billion in new critical minerals projects to advance sustainable resource development and strengthen global supply chains. The initiatives are part of the newly launched G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance, led by Canada, aimed at building resilient and secure supply networks for key resources.
Canada has entered into agreements with Nouveau Monde Graphite for its Matawinie project.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson stated during the closing press conference of the G7 Energy and Environment Ministers’ meeting in Toronto: “This first round of G7 Alliance projects sends the world a very clear signal: we are serious about reducing market concentration and dependencies, safeguarding national security and sovereignty, mobilising capital, and driving investments in sustainable critical minerals projects.”
Hodgson also announced that the government has “issued an order in council under the Defence Production Act officially designating critical minerals as essential to Canadian defence and national interests. This enables Canada to launch our own defence stockpiling regime and to support multilateral stockpiling efforts.” He said the step would “strengthen our capabilities in strategic sectors and contribute to NATO and defence-spending commitments. By protecting domestic production under volatile global conditions, we ensure a secure supply of critical minerals to Canadian and allied defence industries.”
The alliance’s project portfolio includes investments and offtake agreements designed to enhance Canada’s production and processing capacity. Among them, Canada has entered agreements with Nouveau Monde Graphite for the Matawinie project near Montreal, working with partners from Japan, Luxembourg, and Canada to diversify graphite supply chains.
Support has also been provided for Rio Tinto’s pilot plant in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, focused on commercial-scale scandium production, backed by a C$25 million investment from the Canada Growth Fund. Other projects include Torngat Metals’ Strange Lake rare-earth initiative in Nunavik, an offtake for Northern Graphite’s Lac des Îles natural-graphite production, and a C$2 billion synthetic-graphite facility developed by Vianode in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Hodgson added: “We are no longer just talking. Today is a proof of concept: now it is time to sustain and accelerate progress.” He noted that as global efforts intensify to reduce dependency on concentrated supply chains, “our collective commitment is clear: every delay is a concession of economic and national-security interests, and we will no longer accept that.”
Canada’s approach under the G7 Alliance focuses on mobilising private and public investment, securing offtake arrangements, and expanding processing capacity through multilateral cooperation. Hodgson emphasized that the country seeks to turn its resource endowment into a complete value chain encompassing mining, refining, manufacturing, and recycling rather than relying solely on raw-material exports.
He concluded that Canada aimed to be “masters in our own home” in developing its critical-minerals value chain, highlighting the country’s “regulatory certainty, a talented workforce, and a deep commitment to open markets and trade diversification.”
