The Association of Mineral Exploration has released a statement urging the Liberal government to honour its Canada Strong election pledge by expanding Canadian Exploration Expense (CEE) eligibility to cover project‑advancement work.
AME sent a letter to François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of finance and national revenue, on July 17, 2026. In it, the association argued that expanding eligibility or creating a new project-advancement tax credit, would help address financing gaps it says are holding back Canadian critical-mineral projects. The letter has been signed by more than 65 companies and organizations including Newmont, 1911 Gold, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and the Mining Association of Canada (MAC).
“If Canada wants more critical minerals, a more secure supply chain and greater economic resilience, we need to support the work that gets discoveries there,” said Todd Stone, the president and CEO of AME.
Canada Strong
Pitched as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “plan to stand up to Donald Trump,” Canada Strong was a central pillar of the Liberals’ 2025 campaign strategy. In an effort to “attract, expand and de-risk investments in critical minerals exploration and extraction,” the party said it would expand eligible activities under CEE to include the costs of technical studies, such as engineering, economic and feasibility studies for critical-minerals projects.
The Nov. 2025 budget broadened the credit to cover 12 additional minerals but left project-advancement eligibility unchanged.
Project bottlenecks
Since the launch of Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, only one critical-mineral mine has entered commercial production. AME argues that without more support at this stage, many projects stall between discovery and construction, even when the geology is strong.
“Project advancement is not optional or secondary work, it's the stage that proves whether a discovery is technically sound, economically viable and ready to move toward construction,” Stone added.
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