Critical Minerals Strategy Update: Building the Strategic Investment Road Map

Canada has what the world wants. In today’s geopolitics, that makes its abundance of critical minerals an equal proportion risk and opportunity. In Canada’s Arctic, the stakes are exponential. Defence production, dual-use technologies, critical infrastructure, energy, the transmission of communications and data storage all rely on access to critical minerals, making them invaluable to nations around the world. Simply put, the critical minerals that the world wants and needs are direct matters of national security, defence, and economic opportunity, as well as a lever for Canadian diplomacy and foreign policy. They are also a target for foreign interference, nefarious investments, market manipulation, and espionage across the board from corporate and civil to government. It is in this geopolitical context that the update to Canada’s critical minerals strategy must be situated. Its premise cannot be built on unlocking economic opportunity. It must be grounded in the global geopolitical world “as it is”.