Canada Unveils 30 New Critical Minerals Partnerships Worth $12B at PDAC Convention 2026
On 2 March 2026, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson announced the second round of partnerships and investments at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention 2026 in Toronto. The result of the first round was made public in October 2025, when #CriticalMinerals projects worth CAD 18.5 billion were announced.
For this second round, 30 new partnerships mobilizing CAD 12.1 billion were on the agenda. The aim to achieve greater resilience of the supply chains for Critical Minerals, boost economic growth, and reduce strategic vulnerabilities. Most of the projects will be administered and monitored through Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) under the Ministry.
| No. | Organization | Project |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regen Resources | Revitalization of brownfield Wellland synthetic graphite plant in partnership with Linamar |
| 2 | Frontier Lithium | Development of Thunder Bay lithium processing facility with offtake by Panasonic (Japan) |
| 3 | Rock Tech Lithium | Development of Red Rock lithium processing plant with offtake by Siemens (Germany) |
| 4 | Greenland Resources | Development of Malmbjerg Project in Greenland with offtake by Outokumpu |
| 5 | Cyclic Materials | Recycling of Rare Earths at Kingston plant |
| 6 | First Phosphate | Production of LFP batteries at Begin-Lamarche |
| 7 | Pacific Economic Development | Regeneration of mines in First Nations’ Reserve in British Columbia and offtake by Apple (USA) |
| 8 | Scandium Canda | Development of Crater Lake Rare Earths Project in collaboration with Granges (Germany) and NPM Silmet (Estonia) |
| 9 | Rio Tinto | Development of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Gallium R&D Center in collaboration with Indium (USA) |
| 10 | University of Toronto | Training in ESG standards for mining |
| 11 | University of British Columbia | Fostering of collaboration between Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining with LatAm |
| 12 | Economic Commission for LAC | Development of Minerals Skills Network with focus on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) |
In the same week, Canadian PM Carney visited India and signed a cooperation MoU on Critical Minerals, including uranium. The MoU strengthens cooperation, bilateral investment and trade, industrial capacity and sustainable growth.
Canada and Greenland also signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Natural Resources Collaboration. A similar agreement was inked between Canada and the European Union. On a related note, Canada and Italy are establishing a working group on the Supply of Raw Materials.