The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2026 convention reflected growing global momentum for exploration and development, welcoming 32,155 participants from around the world.
This year’s attendance numbers marks the highest participation in the event’s history.
President Karen Rees says there was a clear sense of energy throughout the convention.
“Strong commodity markets are contributing to optimism across the sector,” Rees says.
“At the same time, governments and the public are recognising more clearly how essential minerals are to economic growth, electrification, defence and modern technologies.”
The convention – held in Toronto, Canada earlier this month – also set a record with more than 1,300 exhibitors, delivering the largest trade show footprint in PDAC’s history.
As Mining.com.au reported, PDAC is considered the ‘Super Bowl’ of the mineral exploration and mining community. Across the event, Rees told this news service the focus was on the conditions needed to support long-term investment and responsible development in the sector.
“Core themes include policy certainty, access to capital and regulatory efficiency, all of which influence how and where projects advance globally,” she told this news service.
At the convention, noting the current state of the world Willem Middelkoop of Commodity Discovery Fund said that “war is good for gold and silver”, but believes that the current issues in the Middle East and the war on Ukraine by Russia are all just “proxy wars”, as reported.
“The real war is the war between China and the US,” Middelkoop says.
At the time of writing, gold rose to around US$5,110 ($7,256) an ounce, while silver sat at around US$84 an ounce.
PDAC’s global deals
Over the four day event, PDAC facilitated networking, investment discussion and deal-making. The convention also brought together participation from governments across the world, as well as Canadian policymakers and leaders from municipal, provincial and federal level.
Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson, announced a wave of partnerships and investments under Canada’s Critical Minerals Production Alliance.
On 2 March 2026, 30 new critical minerals partnerships and investments were announced, unlocking C$12.1 billion in mining project capital.
This is the second round of funding in a C$18.5 billion strategy by Canada to strengthen national supply chains, support economic growth and reduce strategic vulnerabilities in the market.
On the sidelines of PDAC this year, a number of strategic cooperation agreements were initiated, focusing on aligning Canada with other major global markets.
Minister Hodgson met with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission Stéphane Séjourné to advance EU-Canada cooperation for critical raw materials and industrial policy, reaffirming the EU-Canada Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials.
A Letter of Intent was also signed on 2 March between the European Investment Bank and the Government of Canada for further cooperation on critical raw materials.
Rees says government policy choices play a critical role in supporting the mineral sector.
“Proven, made-in-Canada exploration tax credits and greater regulatory predictability are essential to maintaining Canada’s competitiveness and investor confidence,” she says.
Canada offers tax incentives for mining activities to reduce the tax load for companies doing business in the country. The mineral exploration tax credit is a 15% credit designed to help explorers raise equity funds, in addition to the regular tax deduction associated with flow-through share investments.
Meanwhile, the critical mineral exploration tax credit, introduced in 2022, is a 30% non-refundable tax credit for specified mineral exploration expenses incurred in Canada.
Canada is a global leader in potash production and ranking among the top five global producers of aluminium, gold, indium, niobium, platinum group metals, titanium concentrate and uranium.
As of 2023, Canada produced 60 minerals and metals across 200 mines, 6,500 sand, gravel and stone quarries – valued at more than C$71 billion ($73.83 billion).
The nation’s mining industry employs more than 724,000 people and contributes C$156 billion to its gross domestic product, as of 2024.
PDAC will take place again in Toronto next year between 7-10 March. The convention represents over 8,200 members around the world. Mining.com.au was a media partner for this year’s convention.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: PDAC
