https://www.budget.ontario.ca/2025/pdf/2025-ontario-budget-en.pdf (pages 36 – 43)
Ontario calls on the federal government to recognize the important role that Ontario shipbuilders can play in the National Shipbuilding Strategy to bolster Canada’s domestic shipbuilding capabilities, as well as supporting Canada in meeting and exceeding its two per cent of GDP NATO spending target as part of national defence commitments.
Unleashing the Economic Potential of Critical Minerals
The imposition of U.S. tariffs has highlighted the urgent need to bolster Ontario’s economic resilience. This includes greater emphasis on domestically sourced critical minerals to maintain secure supply chains and unleash Ontario’s economy.
Critical minerals, such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements, are the foundation upon which modern technology is built. Rapidly changing technologies are, in turn, increasing the global demand for critical minerals, which have become important to strategic industries, including in the defence, aerospace, automotive and energy sectors.
Unlocking the Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire is one of Ontario’s greatest assets in the face of economic threats from the United States. Covering approximately 5,000 square kilometres, the Ring of Fire contains one of the most promising mineral development opportunities in the world, representing enormous economic potential. The region includes reserves of chromite, copper, cobalt, nickel, platinum and many other critical minerals that play a significant role in supporting innovative technologies, including electronics, EVs and cleantech.
Supporting development in the Ring of Fire area will help ensure that Northern communities reap the benefits of critical mineral development, and that First Nation communities benefit through partnerships that offer economic opportunities spanning generations.
As Ontario invests in and makes progress on developing critical infrastructure in the Ring of Fire region, the provincial government continues to call on the Government of Canada to match Ontario’s funding commitments and expedite approval processes for all infrastructure that would enable the development of the Ring of Fire and generate considerable economic benefit to Indigenous and Northern communities.
The current permitting and authorization processes for mining and major infrastructure projects require proponents to navigate a complex process of overlapping and duplicative approvals from multiple ministries and levels of government. In April 2025, the Legislature introduced the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025, which, if passed, would cut the red tape and duplicative processes that have held back major infrastructure, mining and resource development
projects, including in the Ring of Fire. A key component of this legislation is a new One Project, One Process permitting model that streamlines approval processes across government to one process, with the intent of reducing government review time by 50 per cent. Ontario is looking forward to working with the Government of Canada on the One Project, One Review commitment to sign Cooperation and Substitution Agreements, within six months, with all willing Premiers, as well as
Indigenous Governing Bodies, allowing the federal government to recognize provincial-, territorial-, and Indigenous-led assessments.
Improving Access to the Ring of Fire
Developing key infrastructure, including all-season, dependable road access, is a critical step to unlocking economic opportunities and benefits in the Ring of Fire.
The government is helping to advance all-season road projects, including infrastructure feasibility studies. This includes the Marten Falls Community Access Road, Webequie Supply Road, Northern Road Link, Anaconda, and Painter Lake Roads. When complete, these roads would help improve access to goods and services, including education, health care and
housing, for First Nation communities by connecting them to the Ontario highway network for the first time.
In November 2024, the government, along with regional First Nations Chiefs, announced the completion of critical highwy infrastructure improvements in the Greenstone area in Northern Ontario. These upgrades, including upgrades to Highways 584/643 at the gateway to the Ring of Fire region, will improve connections to the provincial highway network.
In January 2025, the government signed a historic agreement with the Aroland First Nation, where for the first time in the province’s history, agreements are in place to build roads along the entire route to the Ring of Fire. The agreement includes support for upgrades to Anaconda and Painter Lake Roads, as well as major new investments in infrastructure and energy transmission in the region.
The government is investing $11.9 million in 2025–26 to support the advancement of the Matawa Broadband project, to provide modern and scalable telecommunication services to five Matawa-member communities in the Ring of Fire Area: Nibinamik, Neskantaga, Eabametoong, Marten Falls, and Webequie First Nations. The broadband project includes the installation of approximately 800 kilometres of fibre-optic telecommunications cable from Wunnumin Lake to Aroland First Nations, connecting each of the five remote Matawa-member communities. It will give communities access to education, training and skills development, as well as access to increased business opportunities.
Attracting Investments to Accelerate Ontario’s Critical Minerals
Processing Capacity
As the government accelerates the development of critical minerals projects in Ontario, it is also working to attract historic investments to support critical mineral processing capacity here at home, to help ensure that minerals mined in Ontario will be processed in Ontario, by Ontario workers.
The government will help unleash the potential of the province’s critical minerals sector by investing $500 million to create a new Critical Minerals Processing Fund (CMPF). Through the fund, Ontario will provide strategic financial support for projects that will accelerate the province’s critical minerals processing capacity, offering a stable supply of critical minerals mined in Ontario, to be used in the province’s broader manufacturing base, while also capitalizing on growing global demand.
The CMPF will capture greater economic value from the province’s mineral resources, by helping to ensure existing mineral processing facilities are fully utilized, as well as supporting the construction of new processing facilities in Ontario. Instead of being extracted only to be shipped to otherjurisdictions for higher value-added processing, minerals mined in Ontario will be refined in Ontario. This will help create new opportunities for workers in Indigenous communities and Northern hubs such as Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay and Timmins.
By enhancing Ontario’s processing capacity, the province can attract greater private capital investment and speed up key strategic projects across the critical minerals supply chain. A fully integrated supply chain will improve Ontario’s standing as a global leader in critical minerals, making the province a more attractive jurisdiction for investment, and a secure source of supply of critical minerals.
In addition, as described in the section “Toughening Up on Short Selling,” the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) are taking action by making changes to the short selling regime that will strengthen Ontario’s public capital markets and help support capital raising, including for the mining sector.
Continuing to Invest in Ontario’s Junior Mining Companies and Exploration
The government is investing $10 million more in 2025–26 to extend the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP), which helps junior mining companies cover eligible costs for critical and precious mineral exploration and development. These projects have the potential to lead to promising discoveries of valuable mineral deposits that could become future mining operations, boosting economic growth and job creation for Northern and Indigenous communities.
This investment builds on the $35 million already committed to OJEP, as announced in November 2024. This includes $23 million to support exploration of all types of minerals and $12 million invested in a stream dedicated to supporting the discovery and development of critical minerals that will help build an integrated supply chain for new technologies. Through the most recent round of OJEP funding, the government is helping 84 junior mining companies finance early exploration projects, with 62 of them focused on the exploration of critical minerals.
Supporting Innovation in the Critical Minerals Supply Chain
In November 2022, the government launched the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF) as part of its Critical Minerals Strategy. The fund helps increase critical minerals exploration, mining, development, production and processing by stimulating investment in Ontario’s critical minerals supply chain. To date, Ontario has invested $20 million through the CMIF to support projects that involve research, development and commercialization of innovative technologies, techniques,
processes and solutions.
The government is now investing an additional $5 million over two years in the CMIF starting in 2025–26, to encourage innovation in the critical minerals sector and reduce reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals and their processing. The funding will help stimulate investment in the critical minerals supply chain and enhance collaboration between industry, academia, startups, and R&D firms.
Welcoming Frontier Lithium’s Critical Mineral Refinery in Thunder Bay
Ontario has significant deposits of lithium, a strategically important mineral in the global EV battery market. In March, the government welcomed Frontier Lithium Inc.’s proposal toinvest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a first-of-its-kind lithium refinery in Thunder Bay. This refinery would result in hundreds of new, full-time jobs and support Ontario’s
emerging end-to-end critical mineral supply chain, with critical minerals mined and refined in Ontario, by Ontario workers.
Frontier Lithium is working with the provincial and federal governments towards an agreement that would, subject to final conditions and approvals, see the company develop and operate a lithium chemicals conversion facility in Thunder Bay. This facility would be part of Frontier Lithium’s PAK Lithium Project, which aims to be the first fully integrated lithium development initiative in Canada and will be an important part of the province’s developing made-in-Ontario critical mineral supply chain. With an emerging end-to-end EV and EV battery manufacturing supply chain, Ontario is well positioned to become a global leader as both a critical mineral supplier and EV manufacturer.
Recovering Residual Metals and Minerals from Mine Waste
In November 2024, the government announced the introduction of a new regulation under the Mining Act that would make it easier to recover residual metals and minerals from mine waste that could be found at operating, closed or abandoned mine sites. Mining waste contains byproducts left over from the extraction of metals like nickel, copper and gold, which may contain small amounts of critical minerals like lithium, platinum and cobalt previously considered uneconomical to recover. This new regulation supports Ontario’s Critical Minerals Strategy by providing sufficient flexibility to allow for the reprocessing of mine waste and streamlining the application process for permits, while ensuring health, safety and environmental protection. Once the new regulation comes into force on July 1, 2025, Ontario will become the first jurisdiction in Canada to enable a dedicated regulatory pathway to recover residual minerals from mine waste.
Strengthening Indigenous Partnerships
Ontario’s progress relies on strong Indigenous partnerships. This includes a focus on sharing in the economic opportunities from critical minerals and electricity sector investments.
The government is relaunching the province’s existing $1 billion Aboriginal Loan Guarantee Program (ALGP) as the new $3 billion Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program (IOFP) to support Indigenous participation in more sectors, including electricity, critical minerals, resource development and related infrastructure components, offering generational economic opportunities for Indigenous Peoples in Ontario.
The name of the program was changed to the IOFP to signal the future design of other financing tools to support Indigenous participation. The proposed changes are key to building a stronger, more resilient and self-sufficient economy and strengthening the participation of Indigenous partners in major infrastructure projects in Ontario.
The program will be transferred in full, with program oversight and administration, from the Ontario Financing Authority (OFA) to the Building Ontario Fund (BOF). The BOF has the legislative mandate to work with institutional investors and Indigenous partners, and has the necessary expertise, investment framework, and resources to act as a single-entry point for Indigenous partners across Ontario, to access financing for infrastructure projects.
The transfer will occur in Q2 of the 2025–26 fiscal year and further details will be shared in the coming months. The program will continue to operate as before, during and after the transition period, to support Indigenous partners in accessing low-cost capital.
Expanding the Indigenous Participation Fund
The government is continuing to advance responsible and sustainable mineral exploration and development with the participation of Indigenous communities by investing $70 million over four years in the Indigenous Participation Fund (formerly known as the Aboriginal Participation Fund), starting in 2025–26. This investment will support Indigenous communities and organizations in areas of high mineral activity to improve capacity for participation in regulatory processes related to mineral exploration and mine development.
This investment will provide greater capacity support to Indigenous communities to enable meaningful consultation, which will help open new mines. This would also better equip Indigenous communities to leverage economic opportunities through increased participation in Ontario’s growing minerals sector, while helping to support the North American supply chains
needed for the deployment of new technologies, as well as the maintenance and expansion of existing infrastructure.
Creating Resource Development Scholarships for First Nation Students
The government is investing $10 million over three years to create new scholarship opportunities for First Nation students interested in pursuing careers in resource development. Ontario’s colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes play a key role in ensuring Ontario’s mining sector has a highly skilled workforce to drive its economy. As the government continues to take vital steps to unlock Northern Ontario’s mining potential, these scholarships will equip First Nation students with access to the tools and training needed to succeed as leaders and innovators in this sector.