Investments in critical minerals infrastructure are essential for Canada to seize the enormous economic opportunity presented by the low-carbon economy and to capitalize on our rich mineral resources. Canada is well positioned to be a global leader and a first-class producer of a wide variety of critical minerals that are essential for powering the clean economy, strengthening national defense capabilities and ensuring national and economic security. By developing and expanding critical mineral value chains - from mining and processing to manufacturing and recycling - Canada can create good jobs, support economic opportunities and contribute to a resilient and secure future.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson announced up to $10 million in infrastructure funding, pending final due diligence, to Torngat Metals for its Strange Lake Northern Transportation Infrastructure Project.
With this funding, Torngat Metals will undertake pre-development activities related to the construction of a road of about 170-kilometres in northern Quebec and Labrador and new port facilities on the coast of Labrador. These activities will include engagement with Indigenous communities, environmental reviews and other planning and design work. This new access road will allow rare earth elements (REEs) mined in Nunavik, Quebec, to reach new port facilities in Labrador for onward shipping to separation and processing facilities.
These infrastructure improvements will serve Torngat Metals' Strange Lake Rare Earth Project, with its globally significant quantities of heavy and light rare earths - namely dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium and terbium - and help establish Canada as a leader in rare earths production and separation. REEs are necessary components in diverse industrial and high-technology applications, including electronics, clean energy, aerospace, automotive and defence. From everyday technologies like cellphones and computer hard drives, to defence applications like electronic displays, radar and sonar systems, REEs play a critical role in national security, clean energy and economic growth. Through this project, Canada can become a global supply chain leader in rare earth elements at time where there is a critical shortage of heavy rare earth elements outside China.
Natural Resources Canada is providing this conditional funding to Torngat Metals through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF)'s pre-construction stream. The CMIF is a key program under the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy to address infrastructure gaps, enable critical minerals production and connect resources to markets through various clean energy, electrification and transportation infrastructure projects. Additional funding decisions for projects under the CMIF to further critical minerals infrastructure developments are expected in the coming months.
As global demand for critical minerals is expected to double by 2040, Canada is uniquely positioned to benefit from this growing market: we are abundant in many critical minerals and have the workers, businesses and communities with the know-how to scale up the mining, processing and manufacturing of products and the recycling of these minerals responsibly. Critical minerals present a huge economic opportunity for workers - with the potential for hundreds of thousands of jobs to be created while stepping up to become the supplier of choice for our allies on the world stage and reduce our reliance on authoritarian governments.
