Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson announced Tuesday that Canada will lead a G7 initiative to secure critical-mineral supply chains and reduce reliance on China — even as the country struggles to approve new mines fast enough to meet global demand.
Canada sits atop vast reserves of lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and rare-earth elements — essential for electric vehicles, semiconductors, and clean-energy technologies. Yet industry leaders warn that the country’s notoriously slow regulatory process, often stretching 10 to 15 years from discovery to production, is pushing investors abroad.
“Canada has world-class deposits but third-world approval timelines,” said one mining executive at a Toronto energy forum. “We’re watching companies take capital to Africa and South America instead.”
Hodgson said Ottawa will work with G7 allies to streamline financing and coordinate supply-chain diversification, but offered few new measures to speed domestic approvals.
Analysts note that without faster permitting, Canada risks missing out on the next generation of green-industrial investment — even as it champions resource security abroad.
“We can’t lead globally,” said one expert, “if we can’t build at home.”