Canada’s new government will invest more in mining at a time when the country’s economy and manufacturing sector are facing “challenges” related to China’s curbs on rare earth exports, Bill Morneau, former Canadian finance minister, told the Post.
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“One of the challenges for Canada is that we will need to increase our own mining,” Morneau, who was in office between 2015 and 2020 under then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, said in Shanghai on Friday.
“The initiative by new [Prime Minister] Mark Carney is to advance the ability to get big projects done. Certainly, mining is one of the critical ones,” Morneau explained.
The former official acknowledged how Canada had taken some flak – collateral damage – amid US-China trade war escalations. Canadian firms, he said, have been affected by China’s export restrictions on critical minerals that are still reverberating through the global industrial chain.
“Canada has a very significant part to play in the North American automotive sector. Any challenges around rare earths have an impact on that sector and, therefore, on Canada,” he said. “So, there is a stake in that discussion for Canada. It’s one of the important reasons that we hope these things get resolved.”
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Canada is sitting on a reserve of 15.2 million tonnes of rare earth oxide, according to a 2023 official estimate. Its reserves include both light and heavy rare earth elements, with key projects in Quebec and Labrador.