B.C. grows critical minerals sector, sustainable jobs
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation was directed in its mandate to develop a B.C. Critical Minerals Strategy. In Budget 2023, the ministry was given $6 million over three years to conduct geoscience, economic analysis and engagement, including establishing a Critical Minerals Advisory Committee, to inform strategy development.
This work has led to the development of 11 Phase 1 Critical Minerals Strategy actions, that will be impactful first steps to support the development and growth of the critical minerals sector, attract investment, and ensure a stable workforce in a competitive jurisdiction. These actions begin to address the barriers to critical-mineral project development, as well as the conditions to enable development. They also align with the Province’s commitments to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and B.C.’s Declaration Act.
The 11 key Phase 1 actions of the B.C. Critical Minerals Strategy are:
Critical Minerals Project Advancement Office:
The Critical Minerals Project Advancement Office is a foundational strategy action to support prioritization of critical-minerals projects in B.C. It is being put in place to centralize and expedite the advancement of priority critical-minerals projects, and lead the assessment of B.C.’s fiscal environment to ensure that B.C. leverages critical-mineral federal-funding opportunities like the Critical Mineral Infrastructure Fund and Strategic Innovation Fund’s critical-minerals offering. The office will feature:
- a concierge service for critical-minerals projects with support for issues resolution, funding opportunities and regulatory processes;
- project management support on permitting and regulatory processes, including federal processes; and
- dedicated First Nations negotiators to help develop agreements, and advise and guide project proponents.
Investments in geoscience:
New investments in the B.C. geological survey will build provincial geoscience capacity to better support exploration and land-use planning efforts, including direct outreach with First Nations to share geoscience data and expertise. B.C. is committed to engaging First Nations and seeking partnership opportunities in geoscience activities.
The Province is investing $3.9 million to advance critical-mineral geoscience over four years, starting fiscal year 2022-23.
As British Columbia continues to pursue the generational economic growth and jobs opportunities that critical minerals present, it is more important than ever that the mineral exploration sector and First Nations have current, accessible and ongoing access to world-class geoscience. The first-ever B.C. Critical Minerals Atlas provides a comprehensive overview of the types of minerals found in B.C. and in what quantities. The atlas is ready to be shared with mining professionals in B.C., whose work demands that they have convenient access to comprehensive and user-friendly critical-mineral data.
The atlas supports the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 as a key step in evaluating the critical-mineral endowment of the province, and building awareness of critical-mineral opportunities for the mineral-exploration industry and First Nations.
Promotion of B.C.’s ESG advantage:
British Columbia is already recognized globally as a hub of mining expertise and innovation, and a global leader in ESG standards. The Province is committed to achieving a globally recognized standard of ESG and has established an ESG Centre of Excellence. The centre is supporting B.C. businesses and entrepreneurs to promote, develop and market environmentally friendly and socially responsible goods, resources and services.
Under this strategy action, the Province will increase investment attraction and promote B.C. businesses through a new Energy and Mines Digital Trust project (EMDT). The EMDT provides a transparent platform to manage companies’ credentials for ESG strengths. These credentials, which cannot be forged, prove where the product originated and how it was produced. This allows companies to demonstrate to investors that their products meet the highest global standards, meaning increased awareness of B.C.’s ESG strengths and traceability of B.C. critical minerals throughout the critical-minerals lifecycle.
If widely adopted, this technology has the potential to improve regulatory efficiency and transparency, leading to new market opportunities for B.C.’s natural-resource industry.
Priority critical-mineral infrastructure:
To secure critical-minerals growth in northwest British Columbia, the Province will partner with the federal government and First Nations to advance and identify funding for high-priority strategic regional infrastructure projects. These projects are essential to critical-mineral growth and meeting CleanBC goals such as clean-energy projects, roads, port upgrades and the North Coast Transmission Line. B.C. is preparing funding for these projects, including the recently announced BC Hydro 10-year capital plan.
This strategy action will support and build on an existing process to secure federal co-funding and First Nations equity opportunities in the North Coast Transmission Line, and to advance line construction that will enable critical-minerals growth in northwest B.C.
Invest in strategic regional critical-minerals projects:
In 2023, the Province announced a $1.05-billion partnership between E-One Moli and the governments of B.C. and Canada to bring lithium-ion battery cell production to Maple Ridge and create 450 high-quality, permanent jobs that are key to growing the province’s clean economy.
This strategy action will build on this approach to advance opportunities to leverage federal funding to enable critical-minerals processing, manufacturing, and circular-economy projects.
Infrastructure and electrification gap assessment:
To reach its CleanBC net zero by 2050 goals, the Province must make the transition to cleaner technologies and energy usage. This means ramping up the development of critical minerals to meet supply needs. This strategy action is a detailed provincewide assessment, that will identify and make plans to address infrastructure gaps that are barriers to critical-mineral development. The assessment will focus heavily on opportunities along the entire value spectrum of critical minerals, from extraction to processing, manufacturing and recycling.
First Nations partners and industry are anticipated to participate in the assessment. This action will complement government’s $36-billion investment through the BC Hydro 10-year capital plan for community and regional infrastructure projects, that will deliver clean, affordable electricity to people and businesses in the future.
Commitment to First Nations on continued critical-minerals development:
B.C.’s Critical Minerals Strategy will serve the mining and mineral exploration sectors, First Nations and people in British Columbia with an evergreen approach, with further development and implementation based on ongoing analysis and engagement with First Nations and First Nations organizations.
Engagement with rights holders is vital to informing strategy development and ensuring that a wide range of perspectives are reflected. First Nations engagement will be taking place throughout 2024, as the Province builds the next phase of the strategy.
This strategy action also includes a plan to work together with the B.C. First Nations Energy and Mining Council (FNEMC) to identify synergies between Phase 1 strategy actions and FNEMC’s B.C. First Nations Critical Mineral Strategy, as part of an evergreen approach to B.C.’s strategy implementation.
Continued commitment to reform Mineral Tenure Act:
Ongoing initiatives, such as Mineral Tenure Act (MTA) reform, are foundational to the success of the strategy. Collaboration between the Province and First Nations, and engagement with industry stakeholders is underway to modernize the MTA in alignment with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This work will continue over the next 15 months with a goal of implementing the new act in spring 2025. The Province is building on the collaboration it has already undertaken, ensuring transparent and consistent communication, and cooperation between B.C., First Nations rights and title holders, and the First Nations Leadership Council. MTA reform will help continue to build a responsible and healthy mining sector that upholds and respects First Nations rights and title, and creates best practices that improve certainty for all.
Fiscal environment assessment:
The Province will conduct a business case analysis to assess the need for targeted incentive programs, that can drive investment throughout the critical-mineral lifecycle, incentivize production and maintain competitiveness. This work will identify barriers to attracting investment and recommends next steps to mitigate those barriers, as well as potential fiscal measures.
StrongerBC: Future Ready Action Plan skills training and workforce development:
The ministries of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, and Post Secondary and Future Skills, will partner to optimize programs to meet workers and critical-minerals sector skills and training needs. This work includes assessing existing programming and identifying and addressing gaps, including engagement with First Nations regarding specific training-program needs to build expertise necessary in critical-minerals exploration, mining and throughout the value chain.
Alignment of B.C. and First Nations Energy and Mining Council Critical Mineral Strategies, and continued engagement with First Nations.