Canada’s Liberal Party has won a fourth consecutive term leading government, based on newcomer Mark Carney’s election platform that includes kickstarting the clean energy supply chain.
Carney, a former central banker turned politician – and now Prime Minister, centred his election platform on ramping up investment in critical minerals, attracting greater investment to move projects from ‘rock to road’ faster, which will support early-stage mining companies while also supporting thousands of jobs across the supply chain.
Amid the nation facing unprecedented threats to its economic security and sovereignty from US President Donald Trump, the Canadian Government will connect critical mineral projects to supply chains via a new First and Last Mile Fund (FLMF).
With President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, and separately aluminium, a sense of urgency to Canadian efforts to boost the mining sector has become apparent.
The Mining Association of Canada CEO Pierre Gratton says mining will weather the tariff war better than other sectors, therefore it makes sense for governments to double down on mining.
“New mining investment can protect the Canadian economy,” Gratton says in an S&P Global Platts report.
The FLMF will allow more viable projects and create a more integrated and accessible economy. The fund will also reduce the reliance on other countries and protect Canadian jobs.
Canada’s energy sector supports around 700,000 jobs across the nation, powering factories, warehouses, labs, and homes.
Ahead of the election, Carney stated Canada has an opportunity to be a world leader in clean and conventional energy.
“We are going to aggressively develop projects that are in the national interest in order to protect Canada’s energy security, diversify our trade, and enhance our long-term competitiveness — all while reducing emissions,” he says.
The government intends to move forward on six major investment tax credits that support clean energy and technology. These tax credits are expected to support C$200 billion ($226.43 billion) of private capital investment in Canada over five years.
In conjunction, Canada is working to expand its electric vehicle charging network by supporting the build of thousands of new stations by 2027. The government is looking at reintroducing a purchase incentive worth up to C$5,000 that supports Canadian workers and strengthens its domestic supply chain.
In parallel, the federal government intends to attract, expand and derisk investments in critical minerals exploration and extraction. This will be achieved by broadening and modifying tax credits, as well as expanding eligible activities under Canadian exploration expenses.
Broadening the Critical Minerals Exploration Tax Credit will expand qualifying minerals to increase critical minerals necessary for defence, semiconductors, energy, and other clean technologies.
Some of these minerals include, antimony, aluminium, cobalt, gallium, germanium, graphite, and vanadium.
Military Metals (CSE:MILI) is among one of several Canadian antimony explorers that is capitalising and commercialising the strategic metal.
Australia-based Director Mark Saxon previously told Mining.com.au that today, antimony is a critical component across military, manufacturing, and renewable energy applications, particularly solar photovoltaic glass to improve the performance of solar cells.
“The US voice globally has been weakened in the last few months as they have removed themselves from alliances,” Saxon says.
“That creates a period of uncertainty but a lot of opportunity. Supply chains are becoming less secure – shorter supply chains are key. Military Metals’ diversity across jurisdictions is a great opportunity there.”
Carney’s government is also set to decrease emissions as rapidly and efficiently as possible. To do this, the government intends to make big emitters pay while protecting the competitiveness of Canadian industries.
The government will also enable opportunities for big polluters to support consumers in lowering their carbon footprint.
In 2023, Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions totalled 694 million tonnes of CO2, which represents an 8.5% decrease from 2005 levels.
According to the country’s 2025 National Inventory Report, emissions intensity has decreased by 34% — which represents the lowest emission levels in the past 27 years, excluding the pandemic years.
The Canadian Government says the historic decline in emissions intensity equates to taking more than 1.8 million cars off the road for a year.
Similarly, the report highlights how greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s electrical grids decreased by 34% over the same period.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
