Canadian fast-tracking initiatives in a period of global trade uncertainty

At a time of significant global trade tensions, fast-tracking critical mineral projects to secure Canada’s position in the global supply chain has never been more important. This year has seen a flurry of legislation and announcements by Canadian federal and provincial governments aimed at expediting the development of the critical mineral resources. Four new pieces of major legislation have been enacted or introduced, and five new or expanded programs have been announced across the country.

New Legislation: Federal, Ontario, B.C., and Nova Scotia

At the time of writing this article, legislations to fast-track critical mineral projects were introduced, passed, and/or enacted federally and provincially in Ontario, B.C., and Nova Scotia, as follows:

Federal

The “Building Canada Act” aims to identify and expedite projects deemed in the national interest, including critical mineral projects and mines, by streamlining federal review and approval processes to increase regulatory certainty.

Ontario

The “Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025” creates authority to designate special economic zones to help advance projects of provincial importance and security, which projects will benefit from streamlined requirements, accelerated permitting, and priority access to services, and seeks to establish a “One Project, One Process” permitting model that streamlines approval processes across government to one process with the goal of reducing review times by 50%.

British Columbia

The “Infrastructure Projects Act” allows for the designation of projects, including those that contribute to provincial priorities such as critical mineral supply, as “provincially significant,”” and aims to prioritize and accelerate provincial permitting for designated projects, establish a specific environmental assessment process for expedited assessment of designated projects, and establish a framework for alternative permit authorizations, through an agreement-seeking approach with local governments.

Nova Scotia

The “Making Business Easier Act,” which has been introduced but not yet enacted, provides for the development of a red-tape reduction action plan, implementation of a one-window approach for the issuance of licenses, permits, and other authorizations to reduce administrative burden and reduce the time within which decisions are made, and comprehensive regulatory review to evaluate laws, policies and administrative processes relating to mineral resource projects, and to identify improvements to promote service efficiency and regulatory effectiveness.

Other initiatives across Canada

Other fast-track initiatives for critical minerals announced this year include the following:

Federal: Major Projects Office (MPO)

The purpose of the MPO is to identify projects that are in national interest, streamline, and accelerate regulatory approval processes and help to structure and co-ordinate financing of projects as needed, and to work with provinces and territories to create a “One project, One review” approach for environmental assessments.

Ontario: Critical Minerals Processing Fund

Included in Ontario’s 2025 Budget, this $500 million fund aims to provide strategic financial support to projects that accelerate the province’s critical minerals processing capacity and made-in-Ontario critical minerals supply chain.

British Columbia: Fast-tracking resource projects

The B.C. government announced that it was prioritizing 18 resource projects for faster environmental assessment and permitting, including four mines (three involving copper).

Manitoba: Critical Mineral Office

The Critical Mineral Office is a single-window office to advance the province’s mining sector by attracting investment and provide mining businesses with customized service to streamline processes and speed up project development.

Nova Scotia: Phased approach to industrial approval process for metal mining

The phased approach to the industrial approval process aims to allow companies to move from planning to action faster, provides for the review of mining applications by a specialized team to ensure timely, consistent decisions, and seeks to reduce red tape and uncertainty for the metal mining industry.

What needs to come next?

Geopolitical tensions have pushed countries to rethink their reliance on China for critical minerals. Canada, with its rich resource base, is well-positioned to fill the gap in global supply chains. By accelerating project timelines, the announced measures, if effective, will reduce supply chain vulnerability and attract greater foreign investment thereby helping to solidify Canada’s standing as a top supplier of critical minerals and enhancing Canada’s strategic position in trade discussions.

While the new legislation and initiatives are encouraging, it is more important than ever to Canada’s economy that federal and provincial governments act on their promises by delivering a tangible path to accelerated development of critical mineral projects in Canada and that legal challenges to these initiatives do not derail the progress that has been made. 

James Clare is a partner at Bennett Jones in Toronto. He has a corporate commercial and securities law practice, with an emphasis on corporate finance and M&A, focused on assisting clients in the mining and oil and gas sectors.

Will Edwards is a partner at Bennett Jones in Toronto. He advises on a broad range of corporate and securities law matters, with a focus on domestic and cross-border M&A and capital markets transactions. He acts for clients in a wide range of industries, including mining.

Chloe Cho is an associate at Bennett Jones in Montréal. She has broad corporate commercial practice, with a particular focus on M&A, securities, and corporate governance matters. 

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