Ontario’s $500M fund boosts critical minerals processing at home

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Ontario launches $500M fund for critical mineral processing

$500M Ontario fund targets critical mineral processing, jobs

The official launch of Ontario’s $500 million Critical Minerals Processing Fund took place Friday morning at Science North in Greater Sudbury. It was first announced in the 2025 budget.

Provincial ministers joined Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre to stress the importance of strengthening the province’s end-to-end critical minerals supply chain.

Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce talked about the role of Canada and Ontario in the critical mineral space.

“We are finally ending the ripping and shipping of Canada’s ethical resources. We are keeping them in this country to be processed so we create value added jobs,” he said.

“This is about repatriating investment away from the U.S., away from Europe, where so many of the value-added investments leave the country they get processed and abroad only for us to buy it back at a premium.”

Up at the podium, Vic Fedeli, the Minister of Economic Development, talked about the situation south of the border.

“The fact that they need things like our nickel, our aluminum, our steel, our oil, our potash, they need all those things. They have one nickel mine in the entire United States and it’s not going to last much longer – so there are things, especially things from Sudbury and northern Ontario that they need,” he said.

Sudbury’s mayor told reporters this fund will make sure processing happens here at home.

“We want to see the added value here,” said Lefebvre.

“We don’t want to see our materials, that we extract from the ground, shipped elsewhere around the world. We want to see those jobs stay here, those critical minerals stay here, and be transformed here, and that’s what this is about.”

The official launch of the fund means companies that accelerate critical mineral processing capacity and strengthen domestic supply chains can now apply for funding through Invest Ontario.

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