Mining Regions and Cities in Northern Ontario, Canada

4. Leveraging mining for long-term development in Northern Ontario

Abstract

This chapter examines how to enhance the policy and governance framework in Northern Ontario to leverage mining for greater economic opportunities and liveability in all communities.

Box 4.1. Key findings and recommendations

• Northern Ontario is a key asset for Ontario and Canada to secure a reliable mineral supply and improve industrial sovereignty and competitiveness. While mining can be a vehicle to enhance development opportunities for First Nations and rural communities in Northern Ontario, realising this opportunity requires a greater focus in improving basic conditions for the regional business environment for mining as well as the engagement of First Nations and communities.

• The federal and provincial governments have already strengthened their financial and support programmes to improve both competitiveness of the mining sector and the development in Northern Ontario communities. Federal programmes provide notable support to the mineral sector on project infrastructure, innovation, and exploration. In parallel, the provincial government has dedicated efforts to facilitate the development of mineral-related projects, mineral-related innovation (particularly on the battery value chain), exploration and permitting. Both levels of government have increased programme support for First Nations’ participation in mining (chapter 2).

• However, federal and provincial policies still need a stronger place-based approach for Northern Ontario in order to focus on strengthening conditions that support both mining projects competitiveness and sustained benefits for First Nations and communities. Some priorities identified in this report include i) enhancing regional innovation ecosystems with stronger links among innovation players and reduced fragmentation of innovation funds; ii) strengthening local labour markets by improving community liveability and skills’ matching as well as transforming perception of mining jobs and iii) reinforcing infrastructure for projects and communities, notably housing.

• Implementing the policies that can leverage mining for a resilient development in Northern Ontario requires a stronger federal–provincial-local coordination to align higher-level policy interventions with local needs. Specific governance priorities include stronger municipal financial capacity (e.g. with updated property tax assessments) and improved long-term access to funding, beyond population formulas. Proactive actions to support readiness of First Nation and municipal governments ahead of mining project arrivals or modifications is particularly needed. This includes equipping local governments to engage early with companies, align industrial plans with local strategies, and negotiate agreements (e.g. on the integration of transient workers). Saskatchewan’s Regional Development Partnership can be a model to build local preparedness. Similarly, region-wide partnerships that go beyond bilateral agreements should be further encouraged to promote shared planning and benefits.

Key recommendations:

1. Improve Northern Ontario’s conditions for both project competitiveness and liveability of First Nations and local communities:

• Enhancing the mining innovation ecosystem in Northern Ontario through:

  • More formalised collaboration and shared innovation goals among regional innovation players, supported by a unified Northern Ontario brand and spaces for interaction, especially for in small municipalities.

  • Promotion of Indigenous-led innovation based on co-governance of innovation programmes and support to Indigenous-led innovation hubs or networks.

  • Strengthen innovation funding by consolidating resources to provide larger support for flagship mineral projects and targeted funds for small businesses, improving communication of opportunities, delivering clear and timely application feedback, and ensuring funding programmes remain stable and long-term beyond government changes.

  • Strengthen connections among local businesses, junior and major mining companies through mining-led innovation challenges, testing platforms, and improved government and industry data on procurement and information for providers. Provincial and municipal governments, in collaboration with the Ontario Mining Association, should work jointly to advance this goal.

• Strengthening local labour markets by:

  • Enhancing outreach to youth their parents and women with hands-on activities, plain language communications, and culturally relevant outreach for Indigenous youth and women. This involves moving beyond traditional information sessions towards experiential activities, where parents and youth can interact directly with mining equipment, technology, and machinery, to spark interest and showcase real opportunities in the sector. Cultural outreach should be done in partnership with Indigenous communities and schools.

  • Improving skill matching with enhanced workforce data and forecast capacity, initiatives for career exploration opportunities in high school, and partnerships with mining companies to expand on-the-job training and mentoring as it can be effective to attract entry-level applicants lacking full skill sets. Workforce data can further rely on pre-employment screening systems and new technologies (such as AI) with a view to identifying regional occupation and skills demand and map workforce characteristics.

  • Strengthening quality of life for workers and families by complementing targeted public policies on service provision with public–private partnerships to expand childcare, recreation, and cultural investments. Amid population decline and shifting immigration policies, provincial and municipal governments also need foresight strategies to adapt service delivery, including greater use of digital solutions.

• Improving industrial and community infrastructure in the region by:

  • Leveraging mining to support investments in transport and energy infrastructure for unconnected communities, ensuring consent from First Nations communities. This should be accompanied by a stronger emphasis on direct public investment in road and energy infrastructure for First Nations, regardless the acceptance of a mining project in their lands.

  • Partnering with mining companies to modernise community infrastructure of local communities, especially roads, digital and recreational infrastructure.

  • Enhancing access to affordable housing for First Nations and local communities by complementing targeted public funding and homeowner repair incentives with industry partnerships to ease municipal access to land, reduce construction costs through shared economies of scale and repurpose or plan mining camps for housing. Newman or Coolgardie in Australia can be examples of how companies can help expand housing supply by freeing up workers’ accommodation for community use, or by leveraging mining contractors to support housing construction.

2. Strengthen the governance framework to ensure lasting effects of policies and harness mining for long-term development:

• Improving municipal and First Nations Government planning capacity to harness long term benefits from mining by:

  • Leveraging existing forums spaces to promote a project-specific multi-stakeholder committee to prepare communities before changes in mining projects are made or new mines are opened. Such a committee could bring together rights holders, if desired, and local actors around a specific project to identify local development priorities in advance. The Saskatchewan’s Sylvite Four-Six Regional Development Partnership for BHP’s Jansen project offers a model for this, building capacity in municipal and First Nations governments to jointly plan in advance to make the most of mining projects.

  • Evaluating the development of a communities’ group at the provincial level to support the development of mineral related-strategies and help with policy implementation. Other OECD regions have established this type of governance groups. For example, Antofagasta in Chile established a multi-stakeholder group to help define the priority actions of the regional mining strategy and monitor its implementation.

  • Supporting municipal governments, particularly small ones, with capacity and knowledge sharing to conduct long-term (+10 years) local development plans to capitalise growth opportunities from mining and diverse sectors. These plans would benefit from having concrete short-term and long-term strategic projects and monitoring mechanisms to track outcomes. Currently, few municipalities in the region have long-term plans, which could lead to missed opportunities and weaker resilience capacity.

  • Incentivising transient workers participation in the local economy in consultation with communities, while ensuring communities/ First Nations voices are heard in standards for integration and behaviour.

• Enhancing funding access for local governments to manage externalities and maximize mining benefits by:

  • Evaluating the update of property tax assessment, as they do not reflect up-to-date property values (still based on 2016 assessments)

  • Improving access and predictability of provincial grants with opportunities for multi-year funding and infrastructure funding. This includes evaluating making the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support (NORDS) a permanent fund, maintaining its flexibility, and simplifying access to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).

  • Facilitating partnerships between municipalities and industry to enhance local fiscal benefits from mining. This is particularly relevant for operations located just outside municipal boundaries but dependent on community services. These arrangements should also be developed in consultation with First Nations to increase legitimacy and alignment on shared benefits. Marathon’s legislative agreement with Barrick Gold mine to tax mine buildings outside municipal boundaries provides a model for other municipalities in the region.

  • Streamlining visualisation and communication of all the funds that are related to mining opportunities for Local communities and First Nations.

• Support greater coordination across local governments, First Nations- if desired- and companies to implement policies by:

  • Supporting better alignment among growth plans of mining companies with First Nations and local economic development plans. This alignment could help identify future opportunities regarding labour, infrastructure and overall planning of the community.

  • Strengthening inter-municipal cooperation with formal agreements to share good practices, promote joint labour market analysis and synergies in in investments.

Introduction

Northern Ontario’s mining sector is vital to Canada’s strategy for securing mineral supply and driving resilient, self-reliant economic growth. Amid rising global trade disruptions, advancing critical mineral projects has become strategically important to advance industrial resilience and the green transition in the country. Northern Ontario holds not only significant deposits of critical minerals, but also mining expertise and education supply as well as a strong business ecosystem, particularly for upstream services. In recent years, both federal and provincial governments have ramped up financial and strategic backing for extraction and processing projects. In parallel, federal and provincial policies have been set to support involvement and capacity of First Nations (chapter 3) and better outcomes for local economies and the environment.

Despite the strategic assets and policy advancements, Northern Ontario faces challenges to simultaneously facilitate competitive mining projects, while ensuring First Nations engagement and greater well-being in for local communities. As mentioned in the previous chapter, a primary priority to improve both business environment and local benefits is enhancing First Nations’ role in policy and project decision making. This priority adds up to particular bottlenecks in the mining ecosystem of the region including skills shortages, unused potential of regional innovation assets, and gaps in infrastructure for both companies and communities. Moreover, coordination between federal and provincial policies has room for improvement to address key development priorities in the region and enhance access to funding and capacity support for First Nations and municipal governments.

This chapter explores the existing policy framework for mining in Northern Ontario, identifies opportunities to address key priorities in Northern Ontario’s mining ecosystem, and provides recommendations for more coherent policy actions that can help reconcile mining competitiveness with inclusive, and sustainable development opportunities in the region.

The policy framework and governance for mining in Norther Ontario

Northern Ontario has historically relied on natural resource industries, with differences of focus across communities (Chapter 1). During the 70s, Forestry was a main economic activity in the west of the region (Thunder-Bay and Marathon area), while mining reinforced its establishment in the east (Sudbury and Timmins). The period after 1970 saw a growing dependence on more direct public sector employment in the wake of local political pressures to address employment in the region (Di Matteo, 2022[1]). There was a growth in provincial and federal offices, including the federal taxation centre in 1982 in Sudbury, a new provincial government building in Sudbury in 1978, as well as Science North in 1984 (Box 3.2). This occurred in parallel with gradual recognition to First Nations rights, but amid gaps in proper engagement in the local economy and decision-making (chapter 2).

Box 4.2. Dedicated government bodies for Northern Ontario started four decades ago.

In the 1980s, growing recognition of Northern Ontario’s unique economic and geographic challenges led to the creation of specialised government bodies and initiatives aimed at improving the region’s development prospects.

In 1985, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) was established by the Ontario provincial government, marking a significant shift in provincial policy as a dedicated ministry responsible for coordinating regional development, resource management, and infrastructure investment in Northern Ontario. The MNDM became the central point of contact for northern communities and industries operating in the region, addressing longstanding disparities between the north and more populous southern regions of the province.

A year later the Northern Ontario Relocation Program (1986) aimed to boost local economies by transferring 1,600 provincial civil servants to various northern Ontario communities, brining stable employment and increased local spending.

In 1988, the province created the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to provide financial support for projects that promote economic diversification, stability, and growth in the region. It has since become a key funding source for infrastructure, innovation, and small business development.

At the federal level, the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) was also launched in the 1980’s, reflecting a similar recognition of the region’s development needs. Administered by Industry Canada, FedNor became the federal government’s primary vehicle for regional economic development in Northern Ontario, offering funding and support to businesses, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and non-profit organisations. FedNor’s programmes have focused on enhancing business competitiveness, fostering innovations, and building economic capacity in smaller and more remote communities.

These initiatives marked a shift toward region-specific governance, designed to address Northern Ontario’s distinct needs and support long-term, sustainable development.

Source: (Di Matteo, 2022[1])

Mining is gaining renewed global and national momentum, fuelled by soaring demand for minerals essential to clean energy technologies and the transition from fossil fuels. Intensifying trade disruptions-including a fivefold rise in export restrictions on critical minerals over the past decade- have further accelerated national efforts to secure reliable mineral supplies. This context underscores the strategic importance of mining regions like Northern Ontario, which holds significant critical mineral reserves, technical expertise, and a supportive business ecosystem.

As one of Canada’s key assets for enhancing mineral resilience and industrial sovereignty, unlocking Northern Ontario’s full potential requires more than accelerating project implementation. It also demands meaningful First Nations participation and delivery of long-term benefits for local communities to ensure projects remain sustainable and socially accepted over time. Federal and provincial governments have a range of institutions and policies aimed at advancing both mining competitiveness and community well-being in parallel.

Different federal and provincial institutions play important roles in Northern Ontario’ mining sector.

In Canada, mining policy is a shared responsibility between federal and provincial governments, with specific tasks across level of governments:

• The federal government is in mainly charge of national scale thematic geoscience, nuclear energy and uranium mining, explosives regulations, international trade and investments, navigable waters management.

• The provinces are in charge of resource ownership and management, jurisdiction scale framework geoscience, resource exploration and development regulations, operational licensing, permitting, and monitoring, land-use decision making.

• Shared responsibilities include: environmental protection and conservation, Indigenous affairs, Innovation, science, technology, R&D, Infrastructure, health and safety, land access

Subject to aboriginal title and private ownership, the federal government owns all minerals located offshore and under any federally owned land, while each province owns the mineral located in its territory, subject to those minerals owned by the Government of Canada.

At the federal level, the main federal Ministry (referred in the Canadian context as Department) in charge of mining is Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), which develops national policies to ensure the country’s natural resources are developed sustainably, competitively and inclusively. It oversees Crown land work permits for various work types.

In Ontario, mining policies are primarily developed and administered by the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Mines, which sets strategies and regulations for the mineral sector. It is the main authority responsible to analyse and grant permits, while the provincial Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks oversees all permits related to use of water. Ontario’s ministry responsible for mining has undergone three reorganisations since 2021:

• Before 2021, The Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (MENDM) managed the mining portfolio. In 2021, the province separated the MENDM in two: the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry.

• In 2022, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry was split into 3 Ministries: the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Northern Development, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

• In 2025, the province merged the Ministry of Mines with the Ministry of Energy, forming the new Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Table 4.1 summarises the main federal and provincial government agencies with relevant roles for mining development.

Table 4.1. Main provincial and federal ministries with roles in mining in Northern Ontario

(Selected)

Government level	Ministry (Department in Canadian context)	Role relative to mining
Province of Ontario	Ministry of Energy and Mines	The lead Ministry on minerals and metals sector, developing strategies and regulation for the mineral sector. -Oversees mining exploration, development, and rehabilitation. -Administers the Mining Act, which governs land access, exploration, claim staking, among others. Promotes mineral investment and supports geological surveys
	Ministry of Northern Economic Development and Growth (MNEDG)	-Supports economic and community development in Northern Ontario through investments, loans and partnerships. -Connects Northern communities and businesses with economic development programmes and services. -Helps Northern businesses participate in export markets.
	Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks	-Ensures that mining activities comply with environmental laws. -Reviews environmental impact assessments and regulates emissions, waste, and water use, by overseeing the Environmental Assessment Act and Environmental Protection Act
	Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development	-Regulates health and safety in mines through the Occupational Health and Safety Act. -Enforces workplace safety standards and inspections. -Supports workforce training and skilled trades relevant to mining
	Ministry of Natural Resources	-Manages of Ontario’s Crown lands, water, oil, gas, salt and aggregates resources, including overseeing Crown land work permits and makes Crown land available for renewable energy projects.
	Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation (IAFNER) It also serves as the “Ministry Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships”	-Ensures consultation with Indigenous communities, particularly in areas where mining may affect Indigenous or treaty rights. -Supports partnerships between Indigenous groups and mining companies -Enhances government awareness of Indigenous people, issues and best practices for consulting and engaging with Indigenous people
Federal level	Natural Resource Canada (NRCAN)	The lead federal ministry for the minerals and metal sector -Develops mining policy relevant to the minerals and metals sector at a national scale, international, or transboundary in nature, including and legislation, supports. -Supports the competitiveness of the sector, international trade and investments, Provides thematic geoscience/geological information on a national scale.
	Environment and Climate Change Canada	-Regulates general environmental impacts of mining activities, overseeing Environmental Assessments, pollution prevention, and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reporting. Plays a role in biodiversity and habitat protection in mining areas
	Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC)	-Oversees Indigenous consultation and rights, especially for mining projects affecting Indigenous lands and communities. CIRNAC manages mineral development in the North, including Nunavut, NWT, and Yukon (alongside territorial governments). -Administers the Critical Mineral Strategy’s Northern Regulatory Initiative.
	The Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor)	-Focuses on economic development for the region -Encourages diversification in rural and single-industry communities -Strengthens rural entrepreneurship and local capacity
	Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)	-Conducts federal impact assessments for major mining and infrastructure projects. -Ensures major projects comply with environmental, health, Indigenous rights, and socio-economic standards.
	The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)	Regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials in Canada to protect health, safety, security and the environment
	Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)	Supports mining innovation, R&D, and clean tech initiatives. Administers the Strategic Innovation Fund’s Critical Minerals’ Stream and works with Works with NRCan on critical minerals and clean energy supply chains

Note: Other Federal Ministries have responsibilities relevant to mining, including Employment and Social Development Canada on labour.

National Research Council Canada on research for innovation, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) on inland fisheries, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada might have a role in infrastructure.

There are a number of regulations that make up the legislative framework within which federal and provincial ministries operate. Recently, the legal framework for mining in the country and the province has evolved toward legislation that supports mining competitiveness and operations. As mentioned in the previous chapter, in the province, the Mining Act of Ontario is the key legislation governing mining activities. It regulates mineral rights acquisition and maintenance, oversees claim staking, prospecting, and mineral exploration, among other matters. In 2023, the province introduced the Building More Mines Act to reduce regulatory burdens and create efficiencies in approvals for mineral exploration and mine development, making the permitting process more predictable.

To enhance competitiveness in the sector, both the federal and the provincial governments issued acts. For this, the province approved the 2025 Bill 5. Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, while the federal level the Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy: An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act. Both acts aim to speed up strategic projects, including critical mineral projects, with streamlined regulatory approvals and financial support. In 2025, the federal government also launched the Major Projects Office (MPO), with the aim to improve federal-provincial collaboration to fast-track approvals for mining-related infrastructure projects. A priority for the MPO includes to help more critical minerals projects get to final investment decisions within a two-year window (Government of Canada, 2025[2]).

Under this institutional set up, each ministry oversees relevant regulations for the mining industry and defines policies to either support the sector’s competitiveness or the rightsholders and communities to benefit from it.

Federal and Provincial Policies for Mining: from extraction to processing.

The federal government’s policies on mining largely seek to ensure that the natural resources are developed sustainably, providing a source of jobs, and opportunity, while preserving the environment and respecting communities and Indigenous peoples. The main guiding policy for the sector at the national level is the Minerals and Metals policy (1990s). Two main recent strategies set out the priority actions to increase competitiveness and sustainability of the minerals and metal sector in the country. This includes Canada’s Critical Mineral Strategy (2022) and the pan-Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (2019), notably by:

• Driving mineral exploration, accelerating project development, and improving the competitiveness of the sector through public geoscience, tax support measures (e.g. the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit and the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit), and regulatory streamlining, with a focus on critical minerals.

• Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and increasing Indigenous participation in the sector.

• Investing in sustainable infrastructure, including clean energy and transportation projects, that accelerate critical minerals development (Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund)

• Enhancing science, technology, and innovation for resource efficiency and mitigate environmental impacts.

  The federal strategic vision is supported by a series of funding programmes, tax incentives, bilateral and multilateral collaborative initiatives and scientific research and research collaborations (Table 4.2).

Table 4.2. National strategies and support mechanisms for minerals and metals development

(examples)

Type	Title	Description
Strategic initiatives	Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy (CCMS) (2022)	The Strategy, released in December 2022 and backed by CAD 3.8 billion in funding, seeks to increase the supply of responsibly sourced critical minerals and support the development of domestic and global value chains for the green and digital economy, as well as defence/dual-use applications. The Strategy has 6 key focus areas: i. drive exploration, research and development and innovation ii. accelerate responsible project development iii. build sustainable infrastructure iv. advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples v. grow a diverse workforce and prosperous communities vi. strengthen global leadership and security.
	Pan-Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (2019)	Launched in 2019, the plan is a pan-Canadian initiative that was developed in collaboration with provinces, territories, and with the participation of Indigenous peoples, industry, academia, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. It includes a vision, principles and strategic directions to drive industry competitiveness with a focus on six strategic directions: i. Enhancing economic development and competitiveness; ii. Advancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples; iii. Improving the environmental footprint of the sector; iii. Fostering science, technology, and innovation; iv. Supporting communities; and v. Providing global leadership.
Funding Programmes (examples)	Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF), (under the CCMS)	Provides federal funding until 2030 for clean energy and transportation infrastructure projects necessary to enable the sustainable development and expansion of critical minerals in Canada. (e.g. It offers up to CAD 50 million per project for private companies and Indigenous groups, and up to CAD 100 million for provinces and territories.) The CMIF supports both preconstruction and shovel-ready projects.
	Indigenous Natural Resource Partnerships Program., (under the CCMS)	Increase the economic participation of Indigenous communities and organisations in the development of natural resource projects (see previous Chapter)
	The Energy Innovation Program (EIP) - Mining Decarbonization Demonstration	Support the uptake of energy decarbonisation technologies within Canada’s mining sector. It focuses specifically on demonstration activities within Canadian upstream to midstream operations.
Tax Incentives (examples)	Critical mineral exploration tax credit (under the CCMS)	Offers a 30% refundable credit to individual investors for eligible exploration expenses targeting specified critical minerals, aiming to boost investment, support domestic supply chains, and advance the transition to a low-carbon economy.
	Clean economy investment tax credits	Provide businesses with financial support for clean technology and project investments by offering refundable tax credits. For example, the Clean Technology Manufacturing credit support for 30% of the cost of investments in new machinery and equipment for clean technologies
Bilateral and multilateral collaborative initiatives with Provinces and Territories	Regional Energy and Resource Tables	Partnerships between the federal government, and individual provinces and territories, with collaboration from Indigenous partners, and insights from key stakeholders. The Tables identify and advance promising low-carbon opportunities in the energy and resource sectors, by improving regulatory efficiencies, attracting investment and ensuring timely project completion, among others.

Note: There are more federal strategies and programmes that support the sector and mining communities directly or indirectly, including through infrastructure development, innovation and research, scientific and research collaborations (e.g. with CanmetMINING and the GSC) and international bilateral and multilateral partnerships on minerals.

Source: (Natural Resources Canada, 2022[3]); (Natural Resources Canada, 2019[4]); (Government of Canada, 2023[5])

In addition to federal support policies and programmes, there are relevant industry-led frameworks to support greater sustainability and responsibility of the mining sector, including the Canadian Mining Association’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Indigenous and Community Relationship Protocol, The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)’s Driving Responsible Exploration, and the UL ECOLOGO Certification programme for manufacturers and retailers.

In Ontario, the main guiding strategy for mining development is the Ontario’s Critical Mineral Strategy 2022-27, which defines actions to address main priorities to boost sustainable mining (Government of Ontario, 2022[6]). To support these policy goals the province has developed a number of key programmes that provide funding and capacity support to promote a number of priorities areas for the sector (Table 4.3):

• Increasing exploration through the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP).

• Facilitating mining projects implementation by reducing red tape and delays in permitting (Mining Act of Ontario, Building More Mines Act)

• Improving Indigenous capacity to participate and benefit from mining.

• Boosting innovation in critical minerals value chain, particularly in downstream phases (Critical Minerals Innovation Fund).

• Ontario is also investing about CAD 500 million to create a new Critical Minerals Processing Fund to provide financial support for projects that accelerate the province's critical mineral processing capacity and made-in-Ontario critical minerals supply chain.

Table 4.3. Ontario’s main policies, regulations and support mechanism for minerals and metal development.

Type	Title	Description
Policy	Ontario’s Critical Mineral Strategy 2022-27	This is a five-year plan designed to establish the province as a global leader in responsibly sourced critical minerals. The strategy focuses on six key areas: i) enhancing geoscience data, supporting mineral exploration, ii) expanding domestic processing, iii) improving regulatory frameworks, iv) investing in innovation and R&D, v) fostering economic development with Indigenous partners, and vi) growing the skilled workforce.
Regulation	Building More Mines Act, 2023	This Act aims to reduce regulatory burdens and create efficiencies in mineral exploration and mines development by: -Expediting the process of opening new mines and modifying existing ones. -Simplifying regulatory processes to minimise delays in project approvals -Ensuring rehabilitation standards are met while making the process more predictable and less onerous.
	Bill 5. Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act 2025	This Act aims to accelerate infrastructure, resource and critical mineral projects to protect Ontario’s economy from external trade pressures. Key change include establishing “special economic zones and a “One Project, One Process” approach to permitting
	Mining Act of Ontario 1990	This Act is the key legislation governing mining activities in the province. It regulates mineral rights acquisition and maintenance, oversees claim staking, prospecting, and mineral exploration and manages mine development related to land tenure. It ensures safe and sustainable mine closure.
Funding Programmes	Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP)	OJEP is an Ontario government initiative supporting early-stage mineral exploration. It provides, among others, up to CAD 200 000 per project, covering 50% of eligible exploration costs. Its key objectives include: -Expanding mineral development, including critical minerals. -Encouraging more exploration projects across the province. -Boosting opportunities, especially in northern and Indigenous communities. -Reducing Investment Risk enhancing Ontario’s appeal for mining investment.
	Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF)	Boost innovation in the mineral value chain of Ontario, for example by providing up to 50% of eligible project costs, with a maximum of CAD 500,000 per project. Goals of the fund are: -Support exploration, mining, production, and processing. -Stimulate Investment -Enhance Collaboration among industry, academia, start-ups, and research firms. Key Priorities: the battery supply chain, deep exploration and mining innovation, and mineral recovery.
	Critical Minerals Processing Fund	The fund will provide strategic financial support to projects that accelerate the province’s critical minerals processing capacity and made-in-Ontario critical minerals supply chain, including building and upgrading critical mineral processing infrastructure.

Note: There are other provincial strategies and programmes that support the sector and mining communities directly or indirectly, including the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support, educational and broader innovation programmes, as well as the Indigenous-related programmes mentioned in Chapter 3, such as the New Relationship Fund, the Indigenous Participation Fund, and the Indigenous Economic Development Fund (IEDF), among others.

Source: (Government of Ontario, 2022[6]); (Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 2023[7]); (Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 2025[8]); (Government of Ontario, 1990[9]); (Government of Ontario, 2021[10]); (Government of Ontario, 2022[11]); (Government of Ontario, 2025[12])

Overall, this array of policies and funding programmes form a strong policy framework to support both industry development and regional well-being with First Nations participation (Chapter 2).

However, as outlined in the previous chapter and revised in the following section, this policy framework has scope to increase coherence and focus to address key priorities in the mining ecosystem and the First Nations and host communities. While competitiveness is highly important in the current geopolitical environment, balancing the urgency of project implementation with the specific needs of First Nations and local communities is essential to ensure sustainability of project in the long-run.

Some municipalities have also elaborated mining strategies, which is indeed an increasingly necessary action for local communities to ensure projects are aligned with their development community goals. Thunder Bay’s first Mining Readiness Strategy was issued in 2020 to maximise and expand benefits from the sector by, for example, launching a mining service and supply directory to promote local and Indigenous vendors and networking to encourage industrial suppliers in Sudbury, Timmins and beyond. It also aimed to open a branch in northwestern Ontario to provide closer services to future mines in the area.

Snapshot of assets and challenges of the mining ecosystem of Northern Ontario

The regional mining ecosystem refers to a set of conditions/factors enabling mining in a region, including infrastructure, skills, policies, supply chains, geology, among other factors required to make mining projects possible. Adopting an ecosystem approach can enhance interaction between the sector and various subnational conditions to bolster the competitiveness of the sector and create development and economic opportunities for the host communities.

In this sense, Northern Ontario’s mining ecosystem is uniquely positioned to drive strategic autonomy and economic resilience of Ontario and Canada. However, there are some areas that need to be reinforced to ensure its strengths translate into competitive projects and long-term local benefits. This section will reintroduce the main assets and bottlenecks identified throughout the previous chapters.

Assets of the Mineral ecosystem in Northern Ontario.

Northern Ontario has assets across the minerals and metals value chain, exceling in upstream support activities. The region stands out for its mineral endowment, research and education institutions green energy supply to produce raw materials and its leading practices in Indigenous engagement in the sector.

Table 4.4. Main Assets of Northern Ontario mineral ecosystem

Asset	Description	Key Figures
Mineral endowment.	The mineral endowment ranges from lode gold deposits to magmatic copper-nickel-palladium-platinum deposits, as well as critical elements such as lithium.	-Northern Ontario hosts 28 of the 36 active mines in Ontario, and is the largest producer of gold in Canada. - Deposits of eight of the 34 critical minerals identified for Canada
Research and education institutions for mining	The region has an array of dedicated research and testing centres, universities and colleges for professional and technical education as well as research particularly on environmental practices and community engagement	-Two universities with research on mining: Laurentian University (34th out of 50 in Canada in 2023) and Lakehead University (35st) (Research Infosource, 2024[13]) - Three colleges that focus on mining: Boreal College, Northern College and Cambrian. -Renowned research and training centres: MIRARCO, CEMI, Cambrian Centre for Smart Mining, CanmetMINING research lab --Indigenous-led institutions for training/education (Kenjgewin Teg First Nations-led post-secondary institute) and for innovation and capacity building (The Indigenous Centre for Excellence in Mineral Development)
Business support ecosystem	Supply of providers and service companies with knowledge and standards to meet mining needs	Sudbury, Timmins and Thunder Bay host companies with knowledge on mining. Sudbury is home to about 350 mining service and supply business
Leading practices in Indigenous Peoples engagement in mining	Northern Ontario hosts various positive practices of Indigenous empowerment and participation in Mining (Chapter 3) that are supported by government and private practices, including enhancing capacity, workforce development, and business and income opportunities among others..	Over 140 active agreements exist between mining companies and Indigenous communities in Ontario. Indigenous communities represent almost 15% of the total mining workforce. Co-ownership, and mining providers.
Export and refining infrastructure	-Two metal smelters, a steel producer and one uranium refinery -Municipalities with mining have access to quality roads, railways and airports.	-Sudbury has 2 smelters, Agloma steel producer in Sault Ste. Marie, Blind River uranium refinery -Connection to internal and external markets through Lake Superior or the south of Ontario
Green energy supply	Ontario’s clean and reliable electricity grid based on renewable source is a major asset for reliable and affordable energy supply for production low-carbon raw materials.	Northern Ontario’s electricity sector emits 56.5% less GHG per GWh than the Canadian average and 82% less than OECD mining region average

Source: (Research Infosource, 2024[13])

Unlike other rich-resource municipalities in the OECD (e.g. in Europe) (OECD, 2025[14]), non-Indigenous communities and some First Nations communities in Northern Ontario have a constructive approach towards mining projects. In main population centres of the regions (e.g. Sudbury, Timmins, Thunder Bay), municipal governments, First Nations, and communities generally view mining projects as opportunities for development and are open to negotiation. This is a strength in the business environment compared to other OECD countries, where local opposition has led to project vetoes, even to the exploration phase (e.g. Portugal) (OECD, 2025[14]),.

These assets are also connected to the main industries in Ontario. The province represents one of the two largest automotive manufacturing jurisdictions in North America. It has the distinction of serving as the Canadian headquarters for five global original equipment manufacturers: Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota. Taken together, these companies typically assemble about two million light vehicles each year at their Canadian plants. They are supplied by an ecosystem of nearly 700 parts suppliers across the country.

An internationally recognised cluster for mining

The three main population hubs in the region provide services, expertise and skills that support the minerals and metals sector: Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Timmins. They are also service centres for advanced education and health for other municipalities in the region and First Nation communities.

Among these hubs, Sudbury stands out as an internationally renowned integrated cluster for mining, with all the characteristics of a world class innovation ecosystem for mineral supply (Box 4.3). It combines knowledge-institutions, more than nine mines in the municipal boundaries, research centres, large mining companies with processing facilities as well as more than 350 mining supply and service providers. This geographical concentration of assets in the mining value chain is a market-driven force that attracts additional business that aim to locate close to major clients and obtain spillovers from competitors.

While the presence of these elements itself does not translate into successful innovation clusters, the different institutions and players in Sudbury collaborate and partner for new economic opportunities. The recognition of this cluster led to the formation of a dedicated cluster-oriented organisation MineConnect, which initially focused on the municipal ecosystem, and later expanded province-wide, becoming the leading industry association in Northern Ontario to market and globalize the products and services of the region’s mining supply and service companies. Other examples of these cluster-type of collaboration include:

• University’s research projects focused on resource efficiency and mining sustainability.

• Joint support to maintain testing facilities in the municipality for providers and training (NORCAT).

• Collaboration for events on knowledge exchange and recently reconciliation discussions.

Box 4.3. Sudbury: a leading municipal mining ecosystem in the OECD

Greater Sudbury is a historic mining hub in its own. The cluster has its roots in the 1970s when the main mining companies in the municipality—INCO and Falconbridge—began downsizing, which led to massive job losses, upwards of 10 000 jobs. This created many independent contractors who went to work in the mines where they had previously been employed (Di Gregorio, 2020[15]; Buse, 1996[16]). The Roundtable Promoting Greater Sudbury’s Mining Service and Supply cluster, held in late 2002 , was a seminal event where representatives from industry organisations, research institutions, and government met to discuss the characteristics of the cluster.

Around this time, a cluster-oriented organisation, the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Services Association, was founded. This organisation is today known as MineConnect and links members with international opportunities, promotes networking among members and media, holds networking events and trade missions, and publishes information about the ecosystem and events on its website.

Today, the city has an array of mining companies, providers, education centres and mining workers:

• 9 base metal mines,

• International mining firms including: Vale, Glencore and KPHM

• Two smelters

• One refinery

• Two Mills

• 350 mining service and supply business, including international organisation like EPIROC

• Three post-secondary institutions in the city provide innovation and applied research capacity

• Government institutions supportive of mining activities provide grants and capacity programmes, supported by planning instruments like the City of Greater Sudbury’s economic development strategy that promotes the mining supply and services cluster.

• Competitive ICT infrastructure

• 27% of the direct mining workforce in Ontario (chapter 2)

Considering its number of mines, population size, and density, Sudbury stands out as one of the largest municipal mining clusters of the OECD (Table 4.5).

Table 4.5. OECD municipal mining clusters (selected municipalities)

Municipality/city (Country)	Population (population density)	Number of Mines	Universities
Greater Sudbury, Canada	170k (53 ppl/km2)	9	2
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada	97.9k (328.6 pp/km2)	1	1
Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, Canada	147k (2.6 ppl/km2)	12	2
Flin Flon, Manitoba/Saskatchewan, Canada	5 000 (376 ppl/km2)	15	0
Karratha, Australia	24k (1.5 ppl/km2)	0	Online campus
Kalgoorlie, Australia	29k (594.47 pp/km2)	3	1
Huelva, Andalusia	143.5k (944.1pp/km2)	4	1
Antofagasta city, Chile	353k (6 281 ppl/km2)	10	2
Greenlee County (home of Clifton-Morenci Mining district), Arizona	9.5k (1.9 ppl/km2)	1	0
Pinal County, Arizona	522.6k (97pp/km2)	1	0
Elko county, Nevada	53k (1.2 ppl/km2)	30	1
Kiruna, Sweden	17.3k (1 517pp/km2)	1	1
Kainuu, Finland (region)	70k (3.5pp/km2)	2	1

Source: (Di Gregorio, 2020[15]); (Statistics Canada, 2022[17]); (SaskMining, n.d.[18]); (Remplan, 2024[19]); (The Diggings, 2024[20]); (Pinal County, 2025[21]) (Ministere de l'Economy, de l'Innovation et de l'Energy, 2025[22]) (Mining Technology, 2020[23])

Challenges of the mineral ecosystem in Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario, like other OECD mining regions, is facing common challenges related to increasingly difficult conditions for mining projects, including declining ore quality, long lead times, and permitting hurdles compared with large producing countries in Africa or Asia. Additional pressures include a current downward pressure in prices and volatility due to short-term supply growth from established producers such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (cobalt), Indonesia (nickel), and China (natural graphite and lithium) (IEA, 2025[24]), as well as broader geopolitical uncertainty.

However, beyond market-related bottlenecks for the industry itself, the region faces some structural challenges in advancing competitive mining project, while ensuring First Nations and other communities derive greater benefits from the sector. Some of these challenges are linked to the region’s rural characteristics and remoteness, including brain drain, workforce shortages, high cost to provide services and housing, as well as barriers to attain economies of scale in the local economy given the small internal market.

Other challenges have emerged from planning and governance gaps. First Nation’s engagement and buy-in remains a top priority for greater regional well-being and mining projects’ implementation. Moreover, municipal capacity to leverage mining for long-term growth, information gaps for local business to benefit from federal and provincial support services, and historic overfocus on extraction to the detriment of local value added in the north are some other particular factors that need attention from governments.

These challenges affect the capacity of projects to find the right skills and needed providers and service locally, and can impact the social acceptability of projects, which can slow down the permitting process and increase operational risks. At the same time, these challenges affect the communities’ ability to capture mining benefits for development. Table 4.6 outlines the main regional factors preventing mining operations to produce sustained local well-being.

Table 4.6. Main challenges to leverage mining for long-term well-being in Northern Ontario

Challenge	Description
Remaining gaps in meaningful participation of First Nations with persistent inequalities in quality of life	-Ambiguity in consultation processes and limited access to technical and legal expertise in First Nations. -Worse-off indicators in accessing public services, or clean water in some First Nations communities, despite the presence of mining. These issues affect First Nations’ perceptions of mining and their engagement in seeking win-win outcomes.
Skills shortages in mining	Ageing, brain drain, misconceptions in youth population and lack of attractiveness of some municipalities reduces workforce for mining in areas where projects take place.
Affordable housing and accessibility to community services, particularly in remote municipalities	Housing shortages (cost of land and availability of land in mining municipalities) and lack of accessibility to childcare and quality recreational services reduces attractiveness of mining municipalities for workers and families.
Gaps in the Innovation ecosystem, and disconnection among regional innovation players	Innovation remains (34.9 patents per 1 million inhabitants) below average in Canada’s rural regions (54.9) and OECD mining regions. Despite having all the elements of an innovation ecosystem, there is a lack of formal interaction among innovation leaders and various structures.
Municipal planning and financial capacity to leverage mining projects for development	- Municipal governments (particularly small ones) face fiscal mismatch between incomes and costs of mining externalities. -Lack of long-term municipal economic plans, with diversification options.
Abandoned mines	5 865 abandoned mining projects in Ontario that require remediation, with a significant concentration of these sites located in Northern Ontario. Environmental impacts and missed opportunities in land repurposing that influence both community perceptions and business prospects.

Northern Ontario’s enabling conditions to leverage mining for competitiveness and liveability

Although mining has long underpinned the region’s economy, today’s surging global demand for critical minerals presents an unparalleled opportunity to facilitate the competitiveness of both existing and new operations. Capitalising on this would stimulate local business growth, boost economic resilience, and foster inclusive, sustainable development.

Main regional enabling factors can help achieve the dual goal of facilitating mining projects and ensuring long-term sustainable development locally include:

• Enhancing the mining innovation ecosystem in the region.

• Strengthening local labour markets for mining.

• Leveraging mining for infrastructure development, particularly housing.

Enhancing the mining innovation ecosystem in Northern Ontario

Innovation in the mining sector is a critical lever for aligning mineral development with regional growth. It enhances supply efficiency, strengthens environmental sustainability, and unlocks local business opportunities. Technological and process innovations improve extraction methods and worker safety-especially as deposits become deeper and more complex- while enabling local entrepreneurs to deliver new products and services to the industry. Innovation is central to meeting green transition goals, including more resource-efficient operations, reduced use of energy, water, and land, and expanded circular practices such as tailings valorisation, waste rock reuse, equipment recycling, and recovery of minerals from secondary sources.

However, as mentioned in Chapter 2, innovation outcomes in Northern Ontario remain below national and international benchmarks, with less than half the patents per inhabitant than the average of Canada’s rural regions (34.9 patents per 1 million inhabitants vs 54.9) and 80% of the OECD mining regions average (44.3). While patents are an imperfect proxy for innovation - since not all innovations are patented or registered where they are developed- the gap can be an indication of areas for improvement, especially given that many OECD mining regions face similar structural challenges.

Given the significant presence of R&D infrastructure and innovation players in the region, innovation issues may involve the type and quality of collaboration among players, the knowledge transfer and exchange - given the extension of the region- as well as the capacity to leverage R&D infrastructure into market-oriented innovation.

The implementation of some flagship innovation projects has been slower than anticipated given the capacity to raise substantial funding for the operation. As discussed in this section, the region has multiple sources of funding for innovation (local, provincial, and federal), but funding remains fragmented in small scales, which make it difficult to speed up implementation.

Particularly for rural regions, innovation should be understood beyond technological products, process and social innovation models. In this area, Northern Ontario has valuable experience, given its process of Indigenous engagement in resource governance and in economic transitions from sectors like forestry to mining. These locally embedded innovations-though not captured by patents- should be more widely documented and shared across Canada and internationally.

This section highlights key actions to strengthen the region’s innovation ecosystem. While not exhaustive, they reflect priority areas identified during OECD field visits and stakeholder and rightsholder consultations that focused on the following: the collaboration among innovation players, Indigenous-led innovation, funding access, and innovation support to entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Improving collaboration across regional innovation players.

Northern Ontario is home to a diverse group of organisations with the capacity to drive innovation in the mining sector, supported by a long-standing tradition of mining research (Table 4.7). These organisations collectively form a robust innovation ecosystem, drawing on years of expertise. For instance, Laurentian University has launched several mining innovation initiatives and is home to the Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO), which has been advancing research in mining technologies and processes since 2000.

Table 4.7. Main players in Northern Ontario’s mining innovation ecosystem (selected)

	Main players (selected)	Main features
Universities	Laurentian University	Hosts: - MIRARCO (see below) -Goodman School of Mines: academic research with workshops and certification programmes - Laurentian Mining Innovation and Technology (LMIT) initiative -Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) -Direct collaboration with mining companies on research programmes
	Lakehead University	Hosts: - Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining & Exploration (CESME) -Mineralogical & Experimental Laboratory -Past experiences of co-op placements with companies like Goldcorp, and Teck Resources
Colleges	Collège Boréal (Boreal College in english)	Applied Research: mining-based applied research in the region
	Cambrian College	Hosts to the Centre for Smart Mining that facilitates new technology adoption in the mining sector. A national renowned colleague for its focus in mining research programmes.
	Confederation College	While focus is on training, has a range of mining related programmes in both semi-skilled and skilled mining occupations with potential for applied research.
	Northern College	Mining education with access to geological mapping tools and drilling simulators.
Research and invocation centers	NORCAT	Stimulate entrepreneurship, tech innovation, and skilled labour in the Greater Sudbury area: -Underground facilities for companies to develop and test new technologies in an operating mine setting - Training methods and equipment for mining workers. -Premises to host start-ups, mid-sized companies, and research organisations
	Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO)	Conducts research on innovative technologies and processes (since 2000). A pilot initiative (still in demonstration phase) is the Centre for Mine Waste Biotechnology.
	Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining & Exploration (CESME)	Encourage and support research, education and outreach activities regarding the nature and impacts of mineral resource exploration
	Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI)	Coordinate innovations that can be integrated into mining operations. Initiatives include: -Mining Innovation Commercialisation Accelerator (MICA), that supports commercialisation of innovative technologies. -Scouting for innovative technology, identifying industrial challenges -Ultra Deep Mining Network
	CANMETMining in Sudbury	Natural Resources Canada’s CanmetMINING conducts research and development (R&D) on a variety of processes and technologies involved in minerals and metals sectors- e,g, research on production of lithium-bearing minerals, recycle minerals from mine waste, or breaking rock underground without explosives.
Cluster-network oriented organisations	MineConnect	Ontario’s mining supply and services association with nearly 300 member companies across areas like automation and BEV development. Support innovation ecosystem with trade missions, networking, and a digital platform.
	Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA)	Non-profit organisation based in Northern Ontario that advocates for and supports the growth of Indigenous business and economic development with networking and information sharing.
	Indigenous Centre for Excellence in Mineral Development	Promotes Indigenous-led innovation by embedding Indigenous Knowledge into the mining life cycle and supporting applied research collaborations, funding intermediaries, and designing culturally relevant supports.

Local innovation players in Northern Ontario collaborate at multiple level and are backed by governments, industry and innovation institutions:

• With government support. Public funding and grant programmes are key drivers of innovation, providing essential resources for research and development. Federal institutions (e.g. NRCan, NRC, ISED) as well as provincial (e.g. Ministry of Energy and Mines and Ministry of Northern Development) play an important role in supporting innovation, by providing funding, through direct collaboration on R&D projects, and as convenors to foster muti-stakeholder dialogue on innovation. One example of a single mining-innovation related project receiving support from different public sources include:

  • Mirarco’s proposed Mine Waste Biotechnology centre, a major project to recover minerals (mainly for the battery value chain) from mine waste streams through bioleaching and bioremediation processes (bacteria use for break apart minerals), has received funding from various levels of government: seed funding from Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, pilot testing funds from MICA Network grant, and funds from the federal level through NRCan, and the provincial level through NOHF.

• With mining companies. Companies are a primary driver of innovation, investing in their own processes, sharing expertise, and providing funding to other players. While many innovation-related partnerships with local players focus on training and education, collaborations on research addressing First Nations and social aspects of mining have recently attracted substantial grants. Examples of partnerships with mining companies include:

  • A renewal of IAMGOLD’s partnership with Laurentian University in 2025, with a CAD 2.5 million investment into the IAMGOLD President’s Innovation Fund for Strategic Investment at Laurentian University supporting academic and research projects aligned with the university’s strategic priorities, especially in mineral resources and mining education.

  • Cambrian College’s collaboration with Vale to develop a Battery Electric Vehicle Training Program, as well as its Centre for Smart Mining’s partnerships with mining technology firms to facilitate industry entry (Cambrian College, 2024[25]).

  • Vale’s partnership with Laurentian University to explore value creation from mining waste.

• With Innovation institutions: Organisations like MIRARCO and the Centre for Smart Mining actively collaborate, and list each other as primary research partners.

Beyond locally based organisations, the province of Ontario also hosts key institutions that foster mining innovation. Notably, the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) is a non-profit that connects industry, academia, and government to maximise the commercial impact of research and streamline funding for companies and entrepreneurs.

A formalised interaction with common goals for innovation

Despite the collaborative efforts within Northern Ontario’s innovation players, much of the co-operation currently relies on informal, ad-hoc connections, often built on long-standing personal relationships within the ecosystem. While this close-knit environment promotes trust and frequent interaction at industry events, such as PDAC or the EV Batteries Conference in Sudbury, it can also create bottlenecks, particularly for newcomers, vulnerability if people leave or relationships break down, and capacity of the players to be aligned around common innovation goals, keep up with progress and ensure continuity.

There is currently no formal co-ordinating body to unify players around shared, long-term innovation goals. As highlighted in Table 4.7, organisations such as CESME, MICA, MineConnect and MIRARCO, play significant roles in promoting innovation and facilitating collaboration. However, these entities primarily pursue their own innovation agendas, rather than a regional one. Such a subnational innovation goals can are useful in other OECD regions to create synergies among innovation ideas, resources and players, especially in areas with low population density. Similarly, clear common goals can better inform provincial and federal programs in order to tailor support and funding. Currently, much of the region’s innovation activity is reactive, driven by provincial or federal funding calls and grant opportunities.

Establishing a dedicated coordinating body or platform could help align the diverse visions and strengths of regional stake and right holders, enabling the identification and pursuit of common innovation priorities for Northern Ontario. This coordinating role could be rotational among RDI (Research, Development, and Innovation) institutions, with the authority to convene regular meetings and foster agreements for collaborative projects. Such a platform should be guided by a strategic innovation roadmap, setting clear medium- and long-term objectives across the ecosystem.

Experts have already highlighted a similar need for stronger horizontal co-ordination at the national level, among federal innovation-related institutions, as a major action to advance innovation outcomes in the country (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 2023[26]). This entails the creation of a single entity—such as the Canadian Knowledge and Science Foundation—to oversee interdisciplinary research competitions, and drive mission-oriented research initiatives. Adopting such an approach at the provincial level would also help ease accessibility for local actors in Northern Ontario to innovation support programmes.

Stronger brand across the region.

The Northern Ontario brand as an integrated innovative mining hub is not clear nationally or internationally. In practice, each major centre – Greater Sudbury, Timmins, Thunder Bay – markets its own mining assets and strategy. In the west for example, Thunder Bay region has been split into smaller mining economic clusters: Marathon, Terrace Bay, Greenstone. While localised promotion can strengthen local markets and help meet the population’s needs, Northern Ontario’s mining potential is fragmented. Opportunities are being missed to promote the entire innovation ecosystem for investors and to create synergies. For example, while Greater Sudbury exemplifies the characteristics of an integrated mining cluster, connections and recognition of other potential mining clusters outside of Sudbury remain underutilised.

A unified regional brand for Northern Ontario’s mining sector could strengthen investment attraction and promote strategic synergies across municipalities, while still respecting and leveraging the distinct assets of each subregion—East and West and mining hubs. Co-ordinated at either the provincial or Northern Ontario level, this brand should showcase the region’s full value proposition: diverse mineral deposits, robust business ecosystems, community and industrial infrastructure, and critically, the leadership of First Nations. Central to this effort must be the inclusion of Indigenous communities with clear recognition of Indigenous-owned enterprises, and the role First Nations play in shaping sustainable mining development.

Promoting co-location strategies for circular economy

Industrial clustering and co-location strategies, such as industrial parks, are widely used to foster collaboration across firms and drive innovation. Sharing physical space enables companies to engage in industrial symbiosis, where secondary products and by-products are reused as valuable inputs in related processes. This reduces waste, improves resource efficiency, and unlocks new business models, especially in circular economy practices (OECD, 2025[14]).

Proximity in unlocking business opportunities in recycling or reusing mineral raw materials is a critical factor. High transport costs to access and move products relative to the final value is a common challenge to make circular economy models viable. Some OECD regions have addressed this through purpose-built industrial parks. For example, Finland’s Kokkola Industrial Park brings together chemical and oil companies whose by-products generate energy for the entire site and serve as inputs for downstream industries—including processing of lithium. In Outokumpu, Finland, industrial symbiosis is built around a central innovative actor, with local firms embedded to provide tailored services, R&D, and advanced inputs.

Northern Ontario, and particularly Sudbury and Timmins, has significant potential to develop clearer industrial symbiosis initiatives across its mining ecosystem. This includes targeted partnerships with mining companies to attract investors to reuse tailings for construction, or smelter heat for processing. Sudbury can further mobilise anchors like NORCAT as innovation hubs for local suppliers and entrepreneurs.

The region has also opportunities to create synergies among mining and forestry. Thunder Bay, for instance, has significant potential for collaboration between the mining sector and the region’s pulp and paper industry, particularly in the areas of energy and chemical use. For the latter, Lakehead's Biorefining Institute could serve as a vehicle to advance research in material use and synergies among both sectors. Promoting proximity of providers or processing facilities among each other could also facilitate these synergies. In other OECD countries, such as in Australia, where byproducts from pulp and paper production (biochar) have been used in the smelting of iron ore to produce green pig iron (Mining.com.au, 2025[27]).

Leverage mining to promote Indigenous-led and social innovation

Indigenous communities hold place-based knowledge systems that are vital for effective land stewardship, climate resilience and biodiversity protection. These knowledge systems can offer innovative approaches to complex mining challenges, including mine reclamation, water monitoring, and climate adaptation. Yet, Indigenous entrepreneurs and innovators remain underrepresented in formal innovation platforms due to systemic barriers with business languages, common visions of work, limited funding access and digital infrastructure and skill gaps (Chapter 3).

Promoting Indigenous-led innovation in Northern Ontario mining can be instrumental to advance on reconciliation and value-added opportunities for First Nations as well as to create more environmentally sustainable, and socially responsible mining projects. Beyond technology, promoting Indigenous-led innovation can help create new governance models of projects, equity partnerships or land stewardship. This will also foster broader social innovation in the region, which is defined as a mechanism that involves the creation and implementation of novel ideas – spanning products, services and processes – while promoting new forms of social interactions and partnerships (OECD, 2025[28]).

Promoting further integration of Indigenous Knowledge into mining processes and supporting applied research collaborations are concrete actions that can help spark new ideas for the sector but also within the Nations. Examples include new organisational models to work with mining companies for environmental restoration or rehabilitation (e.g. Elders’ Advisory Council in Timmins), others include leveraging income from resource industry to create social enterprises for new types of provision to First Nations, or creating new frameworks to monitor the environmental impacts of mining projects (Box 4.4).

Box 4.4. Examples of Indigenous-led innovation in mining: Canada and OECD countries.

Social Innovation – Elders’ Advisory Council for Mine Restoration (Timmins, Canada).

In response to an incident involving the death of a moose and the need of the mine to show corporate responsibility, the Mattagami First Nation formed an unprecedented Elders’ Advisory Council for mine restoration – a collaborative body of Indigenous knowledge‐holders advising on mine remediation and cultural revitalisation. Although informally funded through contributions and supporting agencies, the initiative was Indigenous-driven. The outcome was a new governance model where Indigenous elders work alongside engineers to guide reclamation, ensuring environmental repair reflects cultural values and creating the “two-eyed seeing” template that blends Indigenous and Western approaches in resource management. (McCarthy et al., 2014[29]).

Environmental Stewardship – Indigenous-Led Mine Rehabilitation (Western Australia, Australia)

The Gelganyem Seed Project (established 2019) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia is a good example of innovation to reuse a closed mine. It was triggered by Rio Tinto’s closure of the Argyle diamond mine and the acute need for native seed to revegetate the disturbed land. Gelganyem, which is operated by a local Aboriginal charitable trust, negotiated a seed‐supply contract with the mining company and government, hiring local Aboriginal workers to collect and store seed. Funding came through mining closure obligations and supportive grants. In 2020 the Midwest Employment and Economic Development Aboriginal Corporation (MEEDAC) opened the first Aboriginal-owned native-seed farm to supply restoration plant material across the area.

These projects create various benefits: Ecologically, they supply indigenous plant stock needed for large-scale mine rehabilitation; Economically and socially, they provide new Indigenous-owned businesses, jobs, and opportunities for entrepreneurial skill development in post-mining ecosystems. For instance, over 200 km of traditional lands were accessed for seed collection, and local families now earn income from long-term restoration.

Source: (McCarthy et al., 2014[29]); (D and Pedrini, 2022[30])

Integrating Indigenous-led innovation involves co-creating solutions with Indigenous peoples from the outset. Provincial and Federal policies should focus on some areas to boost such innovation, including:

• Co-govern innovation programmes with Indigenous communities, entrepreneurs, businesses and organisations.

• Fund Indigenous-led innovation hubs and networks to facilitate exchange of ideas, access to information, capital and technology.

• Improve digital and data infrastructure for Indigenous Peoples

Centres like the Indigenous Centre for Excellence in Mineral Development are relevant examples to support First Nations innovations, link them with industry, financial and training opportunities (Box 4.5).

Box 4.5. The Indigenous Centre for Excellence in Mineral Development (ICEMD)

The Indigenous Centre for Excellence in Mineral Development (ICEMD) exemplifies how Indigenous innovation can be supported through a place-based and relational approach. Operating as a "single window" for information, referrals, and training tools, ICEMD aims to strengthen Indigenous capacity to participate in mining, when and how communities choose.

ICEMD promotes Indigenous-led innovation by embedding Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and Traditional Knowledge Holders (TEK) into the mining life cycle and supporting applied research collaborations, funding intermediaries, and designing culturally relevant supports. It offers a model for how industry, governments, and academia can partner with Indigenous communities to create inclusive pathways for innovation.

Source: www.icemd.ca

Improving funding support with streamlined information, complementarity and continuity

Innovation players and rightsholders in Northern Ontario can accesses various finding programmes at the provincial and federal level, which can be combined with private sector support. However, this funding support is often seen as fragmented with different application processes, information sites and timings across programmes (Table 4.8).

Table 4.8. Main funding programmes for innovation in mining for Northern Ontario

Name	Level	Description
Export Marketing Assistance Program	Municipal offer (Greater Sudbury), with funding from Federal (FedNor) and provincial (NOHFC) levels.	Helps “export ready” firms, not-for-profits, and associations expand their market reach by covering export marketing costs (exhibition costs, product testing, market research and intelligence)
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation	Provincial	Various channels of investment, including direct grants to innovation centres (e.g. more than CAD 1 million to expand NORCAT’s underground mining centre)
Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF)	Provincial	Supports Ontario's critical minerals sector through investments in projects related to battery supply chain, innovative techniques for deep exploration and mining, recovery of minerals, and other innovative projects that support the critical minerals sector. It providesup to CAD500 000 in funding for a maximum of 50%of eligible project costs.
FEDNOR’s business support programmes	Federal	At least five programmes for businesses grow and innovation with potential links to mining, such as: Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI), and Community Futures Program (CFP). Overall, programmes provide funding in areas such as Innovation adoption, SMEs’ scale-up or business support networks for under-represented groups
Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credits	Federal/ provincial	The federal SR&ED tax credit offers a 15% non-refundable credit to most businesses, with an enhanced 35% refundable credit for eligible Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs) on the first CAD 3 million of qualifying R&D expenses. In Ontario, businesses may also access additional tax credits: an 8% refundable Ontario Innovation Tax Credit (OITC), a 20% refundable OBRITC for research contracted to institutions, and a 3.5% non-refundable ORDTC to reduce provincial tax.

Ontario has increased its investment in mining innovation in recent years. Notably, the Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF), part of Ontario’s Critical Mineral Strategy 2022, tripled its funding support between 2022- 2024 (from an initial CAD 5 million budget to CAD15 million) (Ontario Government, 2024[31]) and kept increasing in 2025 with more than CAD 7 million (Ontario Government, 2025[32]). Example of projects funded by CMIF include:

• Carbonix Inc., an Indigenous-owned company, to help refine the process for converting mining waste petroleum coke and other byproducts into high‑energy density graphite for use in the battery supply chain,

• Canada Nickel Company to fund research to commercialise carbon capture processing techniques for nickel to produce battery grade nickel, or

• Frontier Lithium Inc. to help develop innovative lithium processing techniques and establish lithium mining and mineral processing in Ontario for use in battery and EV manufacturing supply chains.

The province also announced more than CAD 7 million in 2024 through NOHFC to support mining supply and service sector projects, innovation, workplace safety, and business development in Northern Ontario. Also, loan guarantees, grants, and scholarships to Indigenous peoples announced by the province are aiming to accelerate critical minerals production (Chapter 3).

The Federal support to business development and innovation has also step in to support innovation in the sector. For example, ISED provided CAD 40M to CEMI (topped up in 2025) to create the MICA network and support the commercialisation of innovation, while FedNor provided more granular funding for businesses and entrepreneurs in Northern Ontario municipalities, many related to mining. FedNor has at least five funding programmes that can directly support business grow and innovation to leverage mining development:

• Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) to help SMEs scale up, commercialize new products and enter new markets by adopting innovative technologies, with repayable funding up to 50% of project costs (to a maximum of about CAD 500,000 per project).

• Targeted Manufacturing Initiative – Productivity Improvements (TMINO) to help established Northern Ontario manufacturers modernize their operations, with repayable contributions to finance upgrades in production technology.

• Regional Innovation Ecosystems (RIE) supports not-for-profit organisations that build and strengthen innovation “ecosystems” in Northern Ontario (e.g. incubators, accelerators, industry cluster, and mentorship networks), with grants and support services.

• Regional artificial Intelligence Initiative to accelerate AI adoption with reimbursement up to 50% of capital costs for AI solutions.

• Community Futures Program to support local economic development, diversification and entrepreneurship serving mostly SMEs and business starts ups from under-represented groups, with loans (typically with up to CAD 150 000 per business), loan guarantees, or equity investments.

Despite the availability of funding, some issues raised during the OECD visits to the region seem to be affecting the effectiveness of these funding programmes, particularly for small firms and entrepreneurs:

• Lack of continuity of programmes over the long-term. Stakeholders have expressed concerns about the lack of long-term continuity in innovation programmes. Changes in government often lead to the introduction of new funding programmes without allowing existing programmes to mature and succeeded, which is crucial for long-term mining projects that require sustained support for commercialisation.

• Lack of tailoring programmes to the northern context. Some provincial funding programmes are designed with a generic approach, setting predefined goals that require local actors to adapt to top priorities rather than leveraging local strengths. For example, battery-related innovation is primarily directed to southern Ontario, sidelining northern potential. Moreover, programme eligibility criteria can limit the capacity of Northern innovation ecosystems. For instance, colleges, which are key drivers of innovation in Northern municipalities, are often ineligible to lead programmes like Skills Future.

• Fragmentation of funding programmes. For large projects the amount of different funding sources is small relative to the cost. For example, while MIRARCO’s proposed Centre for Mine Waste Biotechnology has received crucial funding from all levels of government (at least four sources) to jumpstart test and pilots, funding remans significant below the capital required to build the centre (about 20% of the CA 38.7 million required) (MIRARCO, 2024[33]) (Northern Ontario Business, 2024[34]). While large funds exist (e.g. Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund provides investments starting at CAD 10 million for projects), innovation projects in rural mining municipalities can find it difficult to navigate a more complex application process when they are competing against large established firms.

  For small firms, fragmentation increases difficulty to navigate and access the different funding opportunities. In Ontario, programmes such as OCI, eCampus Ontario, NOHFC, and the Ontario Research Fund all have support lines for mining and critical minerals. For example, a startup might apply to both OCI and NOHFC for help building a prototype, or to both eCampusOntario and OCI for research support. This adds bureaucracy in the application processes, duplication of efforts, and extra paperwork.

• Feedback on applications. Applicants have reported a lack of constructive feedback on rejected applications, hindering their ability to improve future submissions and access subsequent funding opportunities.

• Indigenous communities and organisations also face the same funding and long-term programme support challenges as non-Indigenous groups, but with added barriers. Limited capacity to navigate complex, fragmented application processes is compounded by urgent liveability issues such as lack of clean water, inadequate housing, health and mental challenges, and addiction. These conditions make it especially difficult to access the funding needed for long-term development.

The province can improve its funding support in innovation by ensuring programmes have a long-term vision, medium- and long-term outcome indicators, and are tailored to specific characteristics of innovation ecosystems in Northern Ontario. To do so, the region needs to help conduct structural assessments of different municipal hubs to identify specific needs and tailor funding programmes accordingly. For example, multi-year grants for circular economy projects, such as repurposing tailings for construction materials, can stimulate new businesses in the region.

Furthermore, federal and provincial governments should consolidate innovation programmes targeting mineral innovation into single funds capable of delivering substantial, milestone-based investments to flagship projects. Given the sector’s global competitiveness and its strategic importance for the country, a single funding source would accelerate the transition from pilot to commercial scale and help establish high-impact innovation project to anchor other activities. Since most mining innovation is implemented in rural areas, public funding can address unique challenges for projects in this context, such as scale, information gaps, and limited access to capital. Therefore, larger seed public grants can also attract additional private and corporate investment. Beyond the impact of single large funds, such co-ordination can also reduce duplication and maximise resource efficiency across innovation programmes.

Ensuring adoption of funding also requires clearer communication on funding programmes and feedback on the innovation application process. Greater outreach about programmes and application conditions might be needed for innovation players and First Nations who might need additional time to access information and sort out application processes. In turn, constructive feedback, as mentioned before, is also needed to help applicants refine their proposals and increase their chances of future success.

Boosting entrepreneurship and small business integration in the mining value-chain

Entrepreneurship faces difficulties in mining reliant economies. The dominance of a globally integrated mining sector in small local markets creates labour competition through above-median wages, limits market diversity, and leads to lock-in effects for local SMEs (OECD, 2024[35]).

While the SME environment in main population hubs (Sudbury, Timmins and Thunder Bay) performs well (Chapter 2), scope for improvement could be given to small mining municipalities in Northern Ontario, where local businesses must adapt to high industry standards and compete with external suppliers. Additional barriers, such as weak linkages to needs of the mining industry and limited access to seed capital, further constrain entrepreneurial activity in rural Northern communities.

Previous mentioned programmes such as the corporations’ centres funded by the FEDNOR’s community futures programme (Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, 2024[36]) and Aboriginal Financial Institutions provide loans, and advice to Indigenous and non-Indigenous entrepreneurs. The region also has platforms to support early start-up creation, notably start-up incubators in major urban hubs. This is the case of Sudbury’s start-up incubator focused on tech business that is funded by the municipal government and FedNor (federal funds for four years). It offers grants for new ideas and connects with larger investors. MICA in Sudbury has also benefited from federal funds ((in the first quarter of 2025 it received CAD 5 million in federal finance) to fund start-ups that create solutions for the mining sector.

However, demand to start a business in municipalities specialised in mining is low, particularly in the small and remote areas. Barriers-to-entry include: high salaries paid by the mining company, competition for reduced workforce, scarce connections to mining company needs, and information related to funding programmes. In some municipalities (Greenstone, Sudbury), access to affordable land can also be a challenge to set up a new industrial business, e.g. processing facility. Such hurdles are exacerbated for First Nations, whose women-led, and youth-led enterprises are underrepresented in access to capital and support programmes.

Beyond economic and funding incentives, entrepreneurial culture in a rural mining context can be further supported with entrepreneurship in early education, tailored coaching and mentoring, and strategies for second chance (OECD, 2019[37]):

• Entrepreneurship in early education in the school. Integrating entrepreneurship in high-school curriculum has brought positive outcomes in OECD rural regions, based on challenges context linked to industrial needs, financial and managerial literacy (OECD, 2024[35])

• Tailored coaching and mentoring to First Nations women and youth, as well as persons with a disability

• Second chance programmes to address the stigma and consequences of business failures (such as the EU Second chance for honest entrepreneurs) by facilitating exchanges of best practice and legal procedures to wind up a business, in the case of non-fraudulent bankruptcy.

Indigenous entrepreneurship also requires approaches that reflect the unique realities Indigenous business owners face. Unlike mainstream business actors, Indigenous entrepreneurs often operate in underserved communities, navigating distinct legal and cultural frameworks. For Indigenous learners, most business education does not reflect these differences (University of Waterloo, n.d.[38]). For example, Indigenous learners face challenges to fit into Canadian business programmes that focus on corporate scenarios.

In Northern Ontario, concrete opportunities to foster new businesses in the mining ecosystem of Northern Ontario have emerged by leveraging partnerships with mining companies. Business support platforms, competitions, testing platforms and information of industrial needs should be used to spur entrepreneurial ideas. This is the case of IAMGOLD’s challenge for Google developers (Box 4.6).

For Indigenous entrepreneurship, dedicated Indigenous-led organisations can specifically help promote entrepreneurship by promoting inclusive systems that recognise Indigenous entrepreneurs’ strengths. For example, the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business helps improve access to capital with targeted programmes like the Indigenous Women Entrepreneurship Fund and partnerships with Indigenous Financial Institutions. The Council also supports business training, mentorship, and procurement opportunities through initiatives like the Tools and Financing for Aboriginal Business (TAFB) program. Additionally, tools such as the Certified Indigenous Business directory help Indigenous businesses gain credibility and access new markets, including through government and corporate procurement.

Box 4.6. Private-led start-up support

Côté Gold Challenge for Artificial Intelligence in Mining

The Côté Gold DevFest Challenge, hosted by IAMGOLD in partnership with Laurentian University and the Google Developer Group (GDG) Sudbury, is a strong example of how companies can chanel ESG resources into entrepreneurship and innovation to address industry challenges. Focused on the theme of “Responsible AI in mining”, the challenge invited students, AI specialists, and developers to create AI solutions capable of evaluating open-pit blasts using drone footage. Over six-weeks, participants developed programmes that could analyse blasts within seconds, showcasing both technical innovation and potential operational efficiency gains.

This initiative highlights how ESG-aligned investments can go beyond traditional environmental or social programming. By funding competitions, mentorship, and collaboration platforms, IAMGOLD supported young talent, education, and responsible technology development, while generating insights relevant to their core operations. This approach combines community engagement, innovation and workforce development, showing how mining companies can invest in entrepreneurship to advance both sustainability goals and technical priorities.

Source: IAMGOLD Corporation - Artificial Intelligence in Mining: “Côté Gold Challenge” Showcases Innovative Solutions

Leveraging mining companies’ procurement for local business development

Canada, being a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and subject to the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), does not use demand-side local content regulations requiring businesses to geographically discriminate in who they procure goods and services from (Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development, 2018[39]). While there are no policies or regulations to require a percentage of goods and services in the mining sector to be procured from local businesses, there are de facto local procurement requirements when it comes to large-scale industrial projects engaging with First Nations and supply-side initiatives to support small businesses in supplying more competitively to mining companies.

Two main instruments exist to ensure greater procurement from mining in the region:

• Impact Benefit Agreements (IBAs) or other agreements negotiated between mining companies and First Nations, which are commercially negotiated and private agreements. Most proposed mining projects will in effect be bound by these commercial agreements, including any local procurement provisions with First Nations (Chapter 3e).

• Supply-side initiatives support small businesses to be more competitive in the supply to mining companies. Supply side government measures include policies to support local businesses to compete with global standards and network activities with buyers (Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development, 2018[39]). Some of these forms of supplier support are available to all businesses, while in other cases a business must be Indigenous-owned to be eligible (Table 4.9). While most of these forms of support are not specifically targeted for the mining sector, new programmes such as Ontario’s Critical Minerals Innovation Fund are focused on ensuring local economies benefit from increasing demand for minerals.

Table 4.9. Examples of support programmes for businesses in Northern Ontario

Ontario programmes to support supplier in general	Ontario programmes to support Indigenous specific suppliers	Federal programmes to support supplier in general	National programmes to support Indigenous specific suppliers
The Critical Minerals Innovation Fund’s support to “projects that involve research, development and commercialization of innovative technologies, techniques, processes and solutions for critical minerals	Indigenous Economic Development Fund (IEDF) which includes provide start-up and expansion financing for SMEs as well as financing, skills training and other economic development initiatives that are collaborations between Indigenous communities and the private sector	Canada’s Small Business Financing Programmes which help support small businesses to access loans from financial lenders	Indigenous Service Canada the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program (AEP) provides access to capital and business opportunities to Indigenous entrepreneurs and business owners in Canada
The Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit to support Ontario Manufacturers to reduce costs, encourage innovation, and to increase competitiveness. A 10% refundable Corporate Income Tax credit on qualifying investments in buildings, machinery and equipment for manufacturing or processing in Ontario		The government of Canada’s Business Benefits Finder to help suppliers search for specific types of business support available to the sector	The Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF) which provides funding for Indigenous Financial Institutions or “IFIs” that lend to Indigenous businesses. The Government of Canada as well as two crown corporations are funders. (Indigenous Growth Fund, n.d[40])
		The Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) Network to help bridge the gap between innovation and commercialisation for Canadian SMEs	Export Development Canada provides Indigenous businesses working capital, credit, knowledge and advice, investment matching, and additional funding to enter export markets (Export Development Canada, n.d.[41])

Source: (Ontario Government, 2024[42])

In addition, municipal governments offer support to businesses based in their jurisdictions. For example, the Sudbury Catalyst Fund is a large fund (5 million CAD) administered by the Nickel Basin Federal Development Corporation and the City of Greater Sudbury that provides funding to tech related start-ups in the municipality.

There are also cases where multiple municipal governments fund one institution that serves businesses across all their jurisdictions. For example, the Rainy River Future Development Corporation (RRFDC) is funded in part by several Northern Ontario municipalities and supports entrepreneurs to start or expand their business by providing planning assistance and loans (Rainy River Future Development Corporation, n.d[43]).

On top of these supply-side support programmes, Ontario would benefit from a clearer recognition of “local content” as a concept in policy programmes. It could help assess mining benefits in local economies and highlight companies’ efforts for local procurement, especially when it comes to non-Indigenous suppliers. Government supply-side measures appear to provide a supportive environment for businesses supplying the mining sector in the province. However, few public statistics are available- from mining companies or the government - on the share of procurement retained within the region. Even where “local-local” procurement is reported, the specific geographic area covered by this category is not disclosed.

Therefore, the province should consider improving public information on local procurement at the local level. While provincial information with regards to Ontario's mine supply and service sector is clear (e.g. more than 40,000 employed people, with over 1 400 mining supply and service companies in Ontario), granular statistics could help tailor policies to increase support for those more rural economies hosting mining projects. This would increase the public’s awareness of opportunities linked to the mining sector, facilitate discussion and business connections, and increase accountability for efforts by both government and industry to increase local procurement.

This can be done, for example, by creating programmes to measure and report on mining sector procurement from local and provincial businesses. For example, in other OECD regions such as Western Australia, the provincial government created a Local Content Advisor Network, which issues reports summarising local content efforts and results by industry (Government of Western Australia, 2024[44])

Industry organisations like the Ontario Mining Association could also help enhance information about procurement in the region and guide companies to boost supplier web pages sections. For example, the Mining Association of British Columbia works with the Mining Suppliers Association of BC (MSABC) to show detailed figures for how much mining sector spending is going to different regions of the province. Agnico-Eagle, (Agnico-Eagle, n.d[45]), which is already operating in the region, offers a comprehensive web page section for its Nunavut website. Likewise, most mining companies operating in Australia have a clear supplier web page.1 For instance, the Australian company Mineral Resources has an extensive section on its website dedicated to suppliers. It provides information about their code of conduct and also its Australian Industry Participation (AIP) plan with specific categories of goods and services it will need (Mineral Resources, nd[46]).

Strengthening local labour markets for mining value chains

Northern Ontario hosts a robust network of mining education and training institutions that are integral to the region's economic vitality as well as world class training centres for the industry. Colleges, universities, research centres and companies- within Northern Ontario’s innovation ecosystem also play a key role in education and training, forming a strong regional network for skills development.

Most colleges offer mining-related courses and corporate upskilling programmes aligned with industry needs, helping maintain the pipeline of technical talent. Partnerships between colleges and companies demonstrate close collaboration in programme design (Box 4.7). Colleges across the region cover different communities and have developed some complementary specialisations. In the east, Cambrian College mostly focuses on robotics, mining technology, and industrial software, while Collège Boréal (Boreal College in English) delivers French-language training with focus on equipment maintenance, safety, and targeted programmes for women in mining. In the west, Confederation College has created tailored programmes for heavy equipment operators, with a strong employment rate (above 74%), while Northern College’s Haileybury School of Mines provides training for mine engineering, exploration and blasting technique.

Box 4.7. Partnerships of Colleges to upskill workers in Northern Ontario

Cambrian College:

Partnered with Vale on their Vale Electric Vehicle Lab, as part of the Centre for Smart Mining (CSM) to support the shift to electric vehicle technology in mining. The lab enables testing of large-scale batteries, powertrains, and duty cycles for underground EVs, while helping mining suppliers to convert to battery-powered systems. The partnership also supports workforce development through student placements with Vale.

Collège Boréal (Boreal College in English):

Partnered with EPIROC to strengthen the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Maintenance Program, ensuring the students in the programme have access to the training tools and materials that will make future courses ‘best in class’. This programme aims to equip students with essential skills for maintaining electric vehicles in mining operations.

Newmont Corporation sponsors the Collège Boréal’s Mining Potential programme. Newmont covers programme fees for students from underrepresented groups, helping to make mining education more accessible and supporting workforce development in Northern Ontario.

Northern College:

Haileybury School of Mines (HSM) at Northern College partners closely with mining companies to deliver training that meets industry needs. Programmes like the Basic Underground Hard Rock Miner and Surface Diamond Driller Assistant Common Core are developed with input and support from companies such as Goldcorp, Kirkland Lake Gold, and Boart Longyear, ensuring students gain relevant, hands-on experience with industry standard equipment.

These partnerships help keep the curriculum up-to-date and create direct pathways to employment. HSM also works with the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) to provide scholarships and increase student access to mining careers.

Confederation College

Confederation College collaborates with mining companies along the North Shore of Lake Superior to deliver an industry-driven programme. Through initiatives like the North Shore Mining Training Strategy, developed with employers, employment agencies, and government support, the college helps meet regional labour, market demands and supports rapid workforce entry.

Working with companies such as Generation Mining and New Gold, Confederation College has created tailored programmes for roles like heavy equipment operators. Its “Mining Potential” program, run with Northwest Employment Works, also supports workforce diversity by offering free entry-level training for women, youth, and newcomers to fill key skills gaps in the mining sector.

Source: https://collegeboreal.ca/en/formation/battery-electric-vehicle-mining-maintenance-program/

Vale Base Metals Contributes $750,000 to Cambrian College Electric Vehicle Lab | Cambrian College

Northern College’s Haileybury School of Mines Evolves to Serve the Mining Industry - Northern Ontario Business

Confederation College Partners with North Shore Mining Training Strategy to Provide Free Training Opportunities | Confederation College

Among universities, Laurentian University has established a strong balance between academic instruction and applied research in mining, aligning closely with the sector’s evolving needs. The Bharti School of Engineering offers a mining engineering programme for careers in the global mining industry, while the Goodman School of Mines co-ordinates mining-related programmes and fosters leadership development (Box 4.8). This school delivers interdisciplinary training and research initiatives that span the entire mining cycle, from exploration to reclamation (Goodman School of Mines, 2025[47]). These initiatives have reinforced Laurentian’s position as a leading mining research institution in Canada. Notably, the university also offers a Master of Indigenous Relations (MIR), which can be tailored to mining-related fields and aims to improve understanding of Indigenous perspectives on resource development and environmental stewardship.

Box 4.8. Laurentian University Goodman School of Mines

Laurentian University in Greater Sudbury offers a comprehensive Bachelor of Mining Engineering programme through its Bharti School of Engineering, emphasising both surface and underground mining methods, mine planning, and environmental considerations (Laurentian University, 2025[48]). The university also provides graduate programmes, including a Master of Engineering with specialisations in Mining Engineering and Mining-Mechanical Engineering, catering to advanced studies in resource management processes (Laurentian University, 2025[49]). Complementing these academic offerings, the Goodman School of Mines at Laurentian delivers interdisciplinary training and research initiatives that span the entire mining cycle, from exploration to reclamation (Goodman School of Mines, 2025[47]).

Source: (Goodman School of Mines, 2025[47])

One of Northern Ontario’s most renowned assets in education and training is NORCAT. Established in 1995 in Sudbury, NORCAT (Northern Centre for Advanced Technology) is a not-for-profit innovation and training hub that delivers world-class mine safety training, operates Canada’s only underground training mine, and supports advanced mining technology development and commercialisation (Box 4.9).

Box 4.9. NORCAT’s role in training and upskilling

NORCAT is dedicated to training and upskilling labour in the mining sector. It operates the NORCAT Underground Centre, in Sudbury, Ontario – the only training facility with a fully functional underground mine. This allows students to gain practical, hands-on experience in a real-world environment. Programmes are designed to meet industry and regulatory standards, preparing trainees for roles in mining, drilling, and equipment operation.

NORCAT offers a range of programmes, including the Underground Hard Rock Miner, Surface Miner, and Diamond Driller Common Core certifications. It also provides customised workforce training for corporate clients, such as role-specific courses for miners and supervisors. Their innovative VR and AI-enhanced training tools, developed with partners like Vale and the Vector Institute, ensure modern, safe, and effective learning for both domestic and international students.

NORCAT sustains its programmes through commercial fees, government grants, and industry partnerships. International projects, such as training over 200 workers for Torex Gold in Mexico and a U.S. partnership with Great Basin College, reflect its expanding global reach.

Source: https://www.norcat.org/underground-centre/

However, structural factors and perception of the sector affect mining labour markets in Northern Ontario

Despite being a mature mining jurisdiction with a historic mining presence, the region’s industry faces some challenges in filling technical and professional positions. During OECD visits to the region, suppliers and mining companies frequently cited workforce shortages as a major obstacle to maintaining competitive operations. Several factors explain the difficulties in meeting labour demands in the industry as outlined below:

Lack of interest and information about work in the sector, particularly among youth. This is a widespread issue across the OECD. In Canada, young people often still perceive mining as a physically demanding occupation with poor work–life balance. In a 2020 poll of 3,000 youth across Canada, mining ranked last among nine career sectors. This ranking was unchanged in a similar 2023 poll, where 40% of respondents stated they would definitely not consider a career in the mining industry (The Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), 2023[50]). In the region, mining continues to be viewed less favourably among those under 35 compared with other sectors, with 27% of respondents not considering a job in the sector (Mining Industry Human Resources Council, 2023[51]). While pay and job security is a considerable consideration for people aged 15-30, concerns about job safety, lack of knowledge about the skills required, poor work–life balance and scepticism that the sector is becoming more environmentally responsible (with only 57% believing this) (Mining Industry Human Resources Council, 2023[51]) remain key deterrents.

Programs such as the Ontario Mining Association’s This is Mine Life campaign, supported by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario through the Labour Market Partnerships program of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, aim to spark interest in mining careers among young people and newcomers. These initiatives are showing results in shifting young people’s perceptions. An Ipsos omnibus survey of Ontario youth (ages 16–28) in February 2025 found that 39%, about 1.3 million young people, including 91,000 in Northern Ontario, would consider working in the mining sector (Ontario Mining Association, 2025[52]).

Lack of attractiveness of the areas where mining operations are located. Most mining operations, especially new ones in Northern Ontario, are situated in remote, rural municipalities. While these areas offer access to nature and a peaceful lifestyle, they struggle to attract and retain residents due to limited affordable housing, access to quality services and education, childcare, and cultural infrastructure. These issues discourage families from relocating, particularly when a partner’s employment or children’s education and social needs are considered. For example:

• The municipality of Marathon is successful in attracting and training young people but struggles to retain professionals and young families. This is due to limited recreational infrastructure (e.g. an old swimming pool) and relatively more expensive housing compared to larger cities.

• Support healthcare services, including addictions treatment, are also limited in some municipalities due to a lack of qualified staff

Challenges in re-skilling or acquiring the appropriate competencies. Many mining occupations require specialised technical and professional skills that are increasingly scarce in Northern Ontario. The sector faces difficulties in sourcing qualified candidates due to a wave of retirements, especially in senior and technically demanding roles.

With regards to professional programmes, youth in the region are less likely to pursue post-secondary education than in the average of Ontario, and those who do often delay enrolment (Zarifa, Hango and Pizarro Milian, 2017[53]). Many must relocate to southern Ontario to pursue desired education pathways due to limited local options, particularly in high-demand STEM fields, which contributes to a "brain drain". Financial constraints, such as tuition reductions and freezes since 2019, have further strained the finances of institutions in the region, which rely heavily on government grants and tuition for funding (Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, 2022[54]).

Furthermore, recent decreases in the number of student visas that will be issued across Canada (by about 40%) (Government of Canada, 2025[55]) further impacts the availability and quality of mining programmes. This is because international students’ high tuition rates largely subsidise a university's overall operating budget, meaning all programme budgets suffer with lower international student enrolment, including mining programmes.

Certain certification and training programmes are perceived to be complex and bureaucratic, especially by residents of rural municipalities. This is partly due to information gaps and the concentration of training centres in larger population hubs.

• For instance, in Marathon, there is a shortage of transportation drivers with the required licenses. Since the mine is located far from the town center and there is no public transport, youth without a driver’s license or vehicle struggle to take up employment opportunities.

• Similarly, vocational education certification is often viewed as overly difficult and lacks standardisation across Canada (e.g. qualifications to become a truck driver).

• The provincial government requires municipalities to apply for and manage funding through the Ministry of Labour’s skills fund, but many small municipal governments—particularly First Nations administrations—struggle with limited administrative capacity to manage these funds.

Educational disparities have significant implications for Northern Ontario's mining sector. The industry anticipates a shortage of over 3 500 skilled workers by 2040 in Ontario (National Observer, 2024[56]). There is also a gender imbalance present in many mining-related programmes across the region, representing a challenge for gender equity across the sector, yet also an opportunity to attract a new pool of talent (Chapter 1). Without enhanced local education and training programmes, the region risks being unable to meet this demand. Addressing these educational and workforce challenges is vital for the sustainability of Northern Ontario's mining sector, yet existing education and training facilities play a significant role in this process.

Attracting youth and women by transforming perceptions

Mining encompasses a broad array of occupations, from equipment operators and geologists to process engineers and environmental specialists. For example, Mining Industry Human Resources Council in Canada identified about 100 job classifications relevant to mining (Mining Industry Human Resources Council, 2024[57]). Traditionally, roles focused on physical extraction (e.g. haul-truck drivers and drillers), but expanding digitalisation and automation is also generating demand for higher-skilled positions, including data analysts, IT specialists, and autonomous operations controllers (Mining and Automative Skills Alliance, 2024[58]; Shell, 2023[59]).

There are several initiatives underway to address poor perceptions and potential misconceptions surrounding the mining sector. These interventions include a “Mining Needs You” social media campaign led by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, which has received a favourable response (60% positive), contributing to improved impressions of the mining industry (Mining Needs You, 2025[60]).

Improving information about the job opportunities in current mining work and the outreach strategies to youth are priorities to improve labour sustainability for the sector in the region. To do so, some particular actions should involve:

• Conduct hands-on outreach activities with both youth and parents. While outreach in schools and universities is common, greater efforts should be made to engage parents as well. Moving beyond traditional information sessions to experiential activities, where parents and youth can interact directly with mining equipment, technology, and machinery, has proven more effective in sparking interest and showcasing real opportunities in the sector..

• Communication with plain language to demystify the nature of the roles can help make people aware that various skills are needed in the sector.

• Prioritize culturally relevant outreach for Indigenous youth and women, delivered in partnership with Indigenous communities, schools, and leadership

Improving workforce forecast capacity and career paths for a better skill matching

Beyond outreach strategies, the region would benefit from having greater visibility on the current and future skill needs for the industry as well as the current skills in the labour force. Provincial, municipal and First Nation governments do not have complete information on the future needs of the mining companies established in the region, including plans for automation on digitalisation of operation.

Labour-market intelligence tools can help Northern Ontario address labour shortages in mining and fill job vacancies in the region and mining sector. Some estimates refer to around 9 000 job vacancies in Northern Ontario (Northern Economist 2.0, 2025[61]). Traditional labour data such as employer surveys or provincial averages mask local realities and lag behind sudden shifts. For example, public dashboards from Workforce Planning Ontario and MiHR (Mining Industry Human Resources Council) offer more timely, localised insights that can direct targeted action.

Newer methods that analyse labour data can help the region support municipalities and education institutions to strengthen local labour markets. Online job postings and apply text analytics, like natural-language processing, provide granular, near-real-time insights into specific occupations and in-demand skills. This approach improves matching between workers and opportunities, even across different stages of mining. Other OECD regions, such as Flanders, Belgium, have established pre-employment screening system (called ‘Jobbereik’, meaning job reach) to provide jobseekers with occupations that they could pursue based on their current role’s competencies and transferable skills.

Close work among educations institutions and companies can also help drive students and curricula towards industry needs. While the region already has important collaboration in this regard, early interaction with universities and colleges in the area, especially with new companies arriving in the region or when projects are modified, can help to link students with new job opportunities and to adapt short courses to new industry needs.

Overall, some concrete actions for the region include:

• Enhancing workforce data and forecast capacity by further developing a pre-employment screening system and leveraging new technologies (such as AI) to identify regional occupation and skills demand and map workforce characteristics

• Supporting initiatives for career exploration opportunities in high school, outlining a training path with forward contracts in mining.

• Promoting partnerships with mining companies to expand on-the-job training and mentoring is an effective way to attract entry-level applicants lacking full skill sets. Showcasing and promoting existing experiential learning opportunities, such as co-ops and apprenticeships in the region, can further strengthen this approach.

Bridging Indigenous work aspirations and mining jobs

Aligning Indigenous aspirations with mining employment presents ongoing challenges rooted in both structural barriers and mismatches between available roles and community goals. Many mining jobs offered to Indigenous workers are entry-level or manual roles that do not align with aspirations, or do not outline clear paths for skilled, leadership, or community-based work. Limited access to education and training, combined with the geographic isolation of many Indigenous communities, further restricts opportunities to acquire needed skills (Nightingale et al., 2017[62]); (Cox and Mills, 2015[63]).. Cultural obligations and the demanding nature of mining schedules can also create conflicts to adapt or grow in mining roles.

Several successful community-led strategies have improved Indigenous participation in mining. Programmes like Indigenous Job Readiness Training by NATT Group and Z’gamok Enterprises, on-site training from Kenjgewin Teg and Legend Mining, and fully-funded courses through Northern College and Taykwa Tagamou Nation providing hands-on training and culturally relevant education. The Cree Human Resources Development organisation tracks community skills to better match residents with future job opportunities (Bland, 2018[64]).

Also, agreements between companies and First Nations have boosted Indigenous employment opportunities in the sector, with clear employment targets. For instance, at the Musselwhite mine, approx. 19% of the almost 700 employees are Indigenous Peoples. The mine has a target of 30% employment from the signatory and affiliate communities of Windigo and Shibogama First Nation Councils with around 11% of the current Indigenous workforce coming from these signatory communities (Government of Canada, 2015[65]).

To build on this progress, mining strategies should focus on place-based training, support for Indigenous businesses, and tools like job-matching platforms. Investments in apprenticeship programmes and tools like digital job-matching platforms can better align employment with community priorities and promote long-term economic inclusion. It is relevant to keep supporting tailored programmes for Indigenous female employment in the industry, including culturally relevant training programmes as well as cultural awareness training for non-Indigenous employees.

Improving liveability to attract and retain labour force

As mentioned in Chapter 1, demographic decline is affecting Northern Ontario due to strong trends of outmigration and population ageing. A reducing population weakens both municipal capacity to capture long-term value from mining, as it increases costs to deliver services and reduces local fiscal revenues. Population decreases also affect the operational efficiency of mining projects, which require greater reliance on fly-in fly-out or drive-in drive-out labour and suppliers. The challenge is also true for First Nations communities, where many members live off-reserve and rely on some of the services (technical education and health) provided by the municipality.

Despite the job opportunities that mining can bring to host communities, retaining residents and attracting new ones heavily rely on improving the liveability in terms of access to public and recreation services, as well as community infrastructure in Northern Ontario rural municipalities. Even targeted migration policies fall short when fundamental living conditions—such as housing, infrastructure, education, and healthcare—are lacking.

In this context, policy to attract and retain labour force in Northern Ontario need to prioritise the provision of high-quality family support services (e.g. healthcare, childcare, and cultural activities, especially for youth) as well as the supply of affordable housing. Northern Ontario’s mining municipalities have different sources to ensure the initial investment in these amenities:

• Provincial and federal funds, including the NOFC or FEDNOR’s Northern Ontario Development Program (NODP). This last programme invests in projects led by municipalities, First Nations, and other organisations and institutions (e.g. strategic community and business planning, and strengthening of communities’ industrial and business assets) and provides funding for communities or First Nations to hire staff to help develop the local economy.

• Mining companies’ ESG efforts and community investments support improvements in living conditions. Northern Ontario offers various examples of companies supporting community infrastructure, cultural events, health and education services in the municipalities and Indigenous communities, such as:

  • Greenstone Gold Mines: Through an impact benefit agreement with Minodahmun Development LP (a partnership of Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek, Aroland First Nation, and Ginoogaming First Nation), Greenstone Gold Mines supports the creation of a homegrown Indigenous workforce and local mine service businesses. This includes partnerships for exploration drilling and employment opportunities aimed at long-term economic development for First Nations communities.

  • Newmont Goldcorp supports community well-being in Red Lake, Northern Ontario, through a range of social and infrastructure initiatives. In addition to formal Collaboration Agreements with Wabauskang and Lac Seul First Nations which guide joint efforts in education, health and cultural programming, the company invests in local quality of life. This includes operating a recreational facility, sponsoring youth programmes and events, and supporting the development of the Red Lake Medical Clinic.

However, improving impact of this investments, especially the companies’ activities, requires local However, improving impact of these investments, especially the companies’ activities, requires local governments to identify the main needs and ensure the availability of resources for ongoing maintenance and management.

On top of the initial investment, these municipalities often have to deal with externalities related to mining. The primary issue is therefore the capacity of local governments to maintain service quality and upgrade infrastructure over time. The next section will discuss housing accessibility strategies while the last section of this chapter will explore strategies to increase long-term fiscal revenues to address those liveability needs.

Adapt policies and communities for a shrinking population

Alongside efforts to increase community attractiveness and increase population sizes in remote rural municipalities, policies need to remain cost-efficient and realistic in a context of structural demographic shrinkage in rural areas. Across OECD rural regions, net outmigration to urban hubs and low fertility rates are structural trends requiring smart policy responses that avoid basing all investments solely on population growth targets. Recent OECD work has outlined a number of policy strategies to help municipalities adapt services to maintain well-being standards despite population decline (Box 4.10).

Box 4.10. Main OECD recommendations to adapt municipal services to population decline: Smart shrinking

As many regions face ongoing population decline and ageing, so calledd smart shrinking has become a vital approach to ensure long-term resilience and well-being. These demographic shifts can lead to labour shortages, underused infrastructure, and weaker public services, ultimately threatening economic vitality and social cohesion. Without strategic action, affected areas risk falling into a cycle of decline. However, with forward-looking, place-based policies, demographic change can become an opportunity for more inclusive and sustainable development focused on quality of life.

To help regions proactively adapt, the OECD has outlined seven key recommendations for smart shrinking:

• Acknowledge the demographic reality and anticipate change through evidence-based policy responses.

• Tailor adaptation and mitigation strategies to each region’s specific demographic context.

• Align policies with the appropriate territorial scale to ensure relevance and impact.

• Adapt spatial planning and housing policy to reflect changing population needs.

• Create age-friendly places that foster resilience and social inclusion.

• Strengthen coordination across sectors and levels of government for integrated solutions.

• Enhance fiscal resilience by doing more with less in the face of demographic change.

These strategies enable policymakers to shift from reactive responses to proactive planning, turning demographic challenges into drivers of innovation and well-being.

Source: OECD, Shrinking Smartly and Sustainably, 2025

Agreements to further benefit from drive-in drive-out or fly-in fly-out workers

Given the remoteness of some municipalities, municipal governments can also conduct agreements to benefit from drive-in drive-out or fly-in fly-out to improve community liveability. Many operations require a minimum of fly-in fly-out workers as local workforce in remote areas tend to not be enough or not count with the needed skills for the projects. Therefore, municipalities have opportunities to increase interaction of those transient workers to fund investment in community infrastructure and boost the local economy. Strategies to further retain income of these workers locally include providing cultural and recreational alternatives and partner with companies to provide and maintain the temporary accommodation solutions. Good examples on this front include the Coolgardie municipality in Australia, that has invested in adapting old buildings for housing FIFO workers.

Box 4.11. Municipal investment for FIFO housing: Worker’s Accommodation Villages in Coolgardie, Western Australia

The Shire of Coolgardie, Western Australia established Worker’s Accommodation Villages in Coolgardie and Kambalda West for housing FIFO workers in the area. The geographical convenience of the location and appropriate amenities have been a catalyst for long-term contracts with mining companies to domicile their workers. The Shire has invested over AUD 20 million into the creation of a 200-room village at Kambalda and will recoup these costs three years ahead of plan.

This increased tax income from waste management, leading to the improvement of the Waste Management Facility on the outskirts of Coolgardie. Also, the local hotel, previously closed for lack of patronage, has reopened once more as the town becomes a vibrant eating, drinking and recreation hub again.

Source: (Kalgoorlie Miner, 2025[66])

Leveraging mining for infrastructure development

Despite its resource wealth, parts of Northern Ontario still suffer pronounced infrastructure deficits due to its vast size and low population. As mentioned in Chapter 1, many First Nation communities remain unconnected to the road infrastructure and the energy grid, and lack secure access to clean water. Mining projects can be leveraged to support these investments. Moreover, housing shortage and lack of available land hampers capacity to attract families and new businesses to the region.

Focus on addressing housing gaps

Housing accessibility has been a persistent issue affecting liveability in the region. Between 2016-24, homelessness in northern Ontario grew four times faster than in non-northern communities (Donaldson et al., 2025[67]). Lack of affordable housing in Northern Ontario is a multifaceted issue influenced by remoteness and low population, which limits economies of scale for housing investments. Some causes of the issue include:

• High construction costs given the short building season, distance to building providers, and long distances between houses that impact costs of water and electricity connections. These higher costs, coupled with lower profit margins, discourage developers from initiating affordable housing projects.

• Poor condition of existing housing stock. Much of the existing housing, particularly rental units, is over 40 years old and in poor condition. The high costs associated with maintenance and repairs deter both landlords and homeowners from investing in upkeep.

Although these challenges are common across all the municipalities in the North, those with mining activity or potential have additional challenges to access land and manage boom and bust from the sector:

• Important portions of land inside the municipal boundaries may be dedicated to mining activities, with companies reserving areas beyond the mine operation itself in case new extensions and discoveries are feasible. Municipalities are also limited by federal land and large portions of land dedicated to natural protected areas,

• Labour shortages for construction since mining activity draws workers away from residential construction by offering higher wages

• The cyclical nature of mining, when arriving in a small municipality, can send rents and home prices rocketing. This was the case of Greenstone municipality with the arrival of Equinox mine in 2020, where more than 300 people were needed for the construction phase, and residents increased expectation to rent and sell housing to some of the workers, which sent the market into a frenzy.

Despite the extensive geographical area, land access remains a critical challenge not only to attract workers and families but also providers and small business. As in other OECD mining regions, land availability for housing and business development ranks as one of the top development challenges, stressing that solely market approaches are not enough to resolve the structural challenge. Limited affordable and housing options also affect community liveability in the region. Vulnerable populations, including seniors and individuals with mental health or addiction issues, struggle to find housing.

The government has the opportunity to leverage mining momentum to partner with companies and channel wealth of the industry to address the housing crisis in municipalities with mining potential. Other OECD regions have promoted partnerships with companies focused on housing shortages (Box 4.12).

Box 4.12. Partnerships with mining companies to address housing shortages: Newman, Western Australia

BHP is actively partnering with local governments to address housing shortages in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Through an AUD 158 million, 15-year housing programme, including AUD 100 million dedicated to upgrading 700 homes in Newman, BHP is refurbishing properties to make them more suitable for families and workers.

The company has also sold homes to the Shire of East Pilbara and leased others to community organisations and Indigenous groups. In collaboration with the Shire and Traditional Owners, BHP supports precinct planning initiatives like the East Newman Precinct Structure Plan to revitalize neighbourhoods. Despite challenges such as labour shortages and vacant properties, BHP continues to work with local leaders to boost housing availability and support essential community services.

Source: (BHP, 2020[68])

Overall, the province of Ontario needs to help address housing shortages in mining communities by:

• Partnering with private companies to address main housing issues, either by:

  • Realising land reserved for mining companies to housing options

  • Co-investing in housing supply by supporting funding for main works, provide construction materials or mobilise contractors to support housing construction.

  • In remote municipalities, co-ordinate installation of mining camps close or inside municipal boundaries to offer those facilities as a housing solution after the cycle of construction or operations are over.

• Increasing direct funding with public investment and with homeowners’ financial incentives by:

  • Targeting public funding for the construction and maintenance of affordable and non-profit housing units for low- to moderate-income residents, especially in municipalities expecting new mining projects.

  • Providing financial assistance or incentives for homeowners and landlords to repair and maintain existing housing stock.

• Encouraging municipalities to adopt inclusive zoning practices that facilitate the development of diverse housing types, including multi-family and mixed-use developments.

• Collaborating with Indigenous communities to design and implement housing solutions that are culturally relevant.

Addressing transport and energy infrastructure gaps through mining partnerships

A modern mining industry and thriving communities both require reliable transportation, energy, and digital networks – all of which have scope for improvement in the North:

• Transport infrastructure is scarce in far north communities: The provincial highway network (11,000 km) serves southern and urban regions, but far north communities lack all-season roads (northernontariommts.wordpress.com). Many First Nations and remote settlements are only accessible by seasonal winter roads (ice roads constructed for a few months, which cover at least 3,160 km) and air transport (with about 29 provincial remote airports). However, winter roads are inherently costly to build and maintain and their seasons are shortening, which has increased the reliance on remote airports for year-round access. Furthermore, transport infrastructure is a challenge for cost-efficient competitive mining projects. Train lines have been mainly built to carry raw materials, but are still scarce in the region.

• While Northern Ontario’s hydroelectric energy supply is an asset to produce minerals with low CO2 emissions and reduce the carbon footprint of the sector, some potential mining projects are in off-grid areas, which requires additional investment for connection. Furthermore, some remote communities still remain disconnected from the grid, including more than 12 fly-in First Nations that rely on diesel generators for electricity and heating. This solution is both expensive and environmentally harmful. Furthermore, beyond hydroelectricity, the North has seen little new large-scale renewable development (solar, wind), unlike the developments in the south.

• Digital connectivity also has scope for improvement, as large parts of the region have limited Internet access. Some communities only have expensive satellite or dial-up service, and many rural residents lack high-speed (50/10 Mbps) connections.

The federal and provincial governments have announced a joint investment to extend fibre-optic broadband to more than 60 communities along Lake Huron (Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie) (Government of Canada, 2024[69]). Likewise, Ontario launched satellite broadband initiative (ONSAT) in 2024 to deliver satellite Internet to remote sites, but it was paused in 2025 to explore other more cost-efficient solutions (Infrastructure Ontario, 2025[70]).

Against this backdrop, federal and provincial governments prioritise partnerships with First Nations to advance in closing the infrastructure gaps. For interested First Nations, leveraging potential mining projects to advance those investments can be a useful solution. The federal government has already provided projects with grants to build road or energy infrastructure to enhance the competitiveness of the project (through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund). This public initiative should involve First Nations in the decision making of the infrastructure investment and design.

For First Nation communities that do not wish to rely on mining, more direct public investment is needed. The ongoing discussions within the Ring of Fire project have proven that not all communities perceive the access to infrastructure to be a positive aspect per se. If road and energy infrastructure is not complemented with basic health, social and education services, those investments can jeopardize First Nations liveability (See chapter 3). Some projects have shown that partnerships based on Indigenous-led approaches are powerfull strategies to bring infrastructure to remote communities. For example, the Wataynikaneyap Power project (a First Nations–led partnership) built more than 1 800 kilometres in transmission lines in northwestern Ontario, delivering grid power to 24 remote communities (Wataynikaneyap Power, 2024[71]).

For local communities, these mining projects can also help modernise infrastructure, with shared access roads or rails in mining permits, or grants or tax incentives to encourage mines to co-build power lines.

Strengthening the governance framework to make the most of mining in Northen Ontario

Provincial and federal policies offer strong support and tools to improve both mining competitiveness and communities, such as Indigenous peoples who benefit from mining. However, gaps in local capacity to access and implement programmes, along with weak inter-governmental co-ordination to address development priorities, remain major barriers to achieving the intended impact of policies. Beyond the strategies to improve First Nations’ engagement in the sector mentioned in the previous chapter, other institutional arrangements are needed to strengthen community capacity and mining governance in the region:

• Enhancing local governments’ planning capacity to secure lasting benefits from mining

• Improving municipal access to funding for mining community development.

• Strengthening horizontal co-ordination at local level for governance and management of mining projects

Enhancing local governments’ planning capacity to secure lasting benefits from mining

Maximising local benefits from mining in Northern Ontario requires municipal capacity to plan in advance and prepare communities capture the upsides of mining. Municipal governments are central to achieving mining policy goals and securing broader local outcomes, including service delivery, identifying challenges, and tailoring solutions to community needs.

However, municipal governments in the region face significant challenges in accessing project information, planning long-term, and anticipating operational timelines. They are rarely the first point of contact for companies, as project coordination is managed primarily by the province (e.g. Ministry of Energy and Mines) and, in some cases, directly with First Nations through agreements and consultations. Municipalities are generally not informed about First Nations consultation processes and typically do not negotiate benefit agreements with companies, resulting in delayed participation and limited influence over project planning. This lack of early engagement hampers municipalities’ ability to access critical information and plan with certainty for the timing and impacts of mining operations.

Challenges in partnering with mining can be exacerbated when a project is located just outside the municipal boundary. Agreements for these projects are mostly ad hoc, and planning can imply further gaps in information about the project and potential economic gains for local businesses. On top of this uncertainty regarding benefits, municipalities need to prepare to address negative externalities. For example, workers and service providers from operations outside municipal boundaries use municipal amenities and services, including restaurants, supermarkets, bars, and pharmacies. Likewise, freight and passenger transport may also use municipal roads, whose maintenance depends on the local government. Without agreements in place, these operations provide no direct fiscal revenue to municipality (no land-use tax or income from service provision such as waste collection or water services); yet municipalities must still manage indirect negative effects such as road maintenance, security, and price increases for residents not involved in mining.

A similar mismatch between project efficiency and local development priorities arises when operations rely heavily on fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) or drive-in/drive-out (DIDO) workers with little integration into local economies. While FIFO/DIDO arrangements can improve efficiency for companies and help governments mitigate the risk of overinvesting in long-term infrastructure amid boom-and-bust cycles (Haslam McKenzie, 2020[72]), permanent FIFO/DIDO camps also bring inherent social and economic challenges that require careful management. In addition to the fiscal mismatch between municipal income and the costs of service provision—such as healthcare—these transient workforces can inflate local prices (e.g. in restaurants), exacerbating inequality and sparking social tension. The predominantly male and temporary nature of these populations can also lead to spikes in alcohol and drug use (Deacon, L., Papineau, J. W., & Lamanes, T., 2017[73]; Dorow, Hilario and O’Leary, 2023[74]).

Some of Northern Ontario’s municipalities have missed the opportunity to fully maximise benefits from new mining operations. For example, Greenstone municipality failed to prepare in advance to provide housing solutions for workforce at the new Greenstone Gold mine (about 700 workers in the construction phase and 200 in operation phase), prompting the company to establish a FIFO/DIDO camp on-site (Box 4.13). While mining activity generates some local spending from FIFO/DIDO workers, it fell short of broader municipal expectations to drive population growth and lasting economic opportunities. This limited benefit did not offset rising pressures on roads, social integration, and other community services. As one Geraldton resident observed during the OECD field visit: “With the arrival of the new mine, we saw more spending in bars and more drug activity, but not many people starting businesses in the community.” (A multi-generational family business owner rooted in the community).

Box 4.13. Missing local development opportunities from mining: the case of Greenstone Municipality

In 2021, Equinox Gold and Orion Mine Finance began construction of the Greenstone Gold Mine in the municipality of Greenstone, Ontario, reopening a site dormant since the late 1960s. The project came with significant economic expectations for the municipality, including thousands of jobs and major infrastructure investment. However, the municipality faced critical constraints. Indeed, limited available land and high development costs made it impossible to provide housing for the workers required for the mine’s construction and operational phase.

As a result, Equinox Gold established a large work camp—the Ga-Be-She-Win Lodge—directly on the mine site, with a capacity of 610 beds. This facility was developed and operated through a service agreement with the Long Lake 58 First Nation, reflecting a strong partnership with Indigenous communities and providing economic benefits to the First Nation. The arrangement has continued into the operational phase, with about 200 fly-in fly-out workers housed at the camp.

This solution, while effective in meeting the mine’s immediate workforce accommodation needs and providing income to the First Nation, represents a missed opportunity for the municipality of Greenstone. The inability to expand local housing stock or adapt existing unused houses meant the community could not capitalise on the associated local economic activity that a larger resident workforce would have generated. The economic and social benefits—such as new permanent housing, increased local spending, economies of scale for community service and community growth—did not come to fruition.

This case highlights the importance of proactive planning and investment in local infrastructure to ensure mining projects translate into long-term community development, rather than temporary, isolated work camps.

Source: Full-scale construction begins at Greenstone Gold Mine in northern Ontario , Open-Pit Mine | GA-BE-SHE-WIN Lodge| Black Diamond Lodging

Canada already has forums to coordinate federal and provincial actions on minerals policy. Some notable include:

• The Regional Energy and Resource Tables is joint partnerships between the federal government and individual provinces and territories, in collaboration with Indigenous partners and with the input of key stakeholders, to identify and accelerate the top economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the energy and resource sectors. A key priority within this tables is the improvement of regulatory efficiencies.

• The Ministerial level Energy and Mines Ministers Conference is an annual gathering of federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for energy and mining portfolios.

• The Intergovernmental Working Group on the Mineral Industry promotes collaboration through bilateral and multilateral meetings, supporting senior-level engagements and encouraging information sharing. This commitment is shared with the Finance and Economic Subcommittee, the National Geological Survey Committee, the FPT Committee on Mineral Statistics and the Mining Sector Performance Reports team.

On top of this, the pan-Canadian Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan stood out as an initiative to agree with federal, provincial, and territorial governments on a common vision, principles, targets, and areas of action for mining development. These forums involved the participation of industry, Indigenous Peoples, academia, non-governmental organisations, and other partners and stakeholders.

These forums are important basis for the province to coordinate with federal level agencies and other provinces, yet there is scope to further integrate mining communities’ needs into these multilevel government structures. Building on existing multilevel coordination forums, Ontario would benefit from adopting a more systematic approach to strengthen collaboration across levels of governments and across departments specifically focused on supporting municipalities with new or expanding mining projects. Some actions that Ontario and federal governments can undertake to support First Nation and municipal governments to prepare for new or changes in projects include:

• Establish a dedicated multistakeholder committee to prepare communities before mines open or major changes occur. Such a committee could bring together rights holders and local actors from a specific project or municipality to identify in advance the priorities of the community and those of First Nations. Involving provincial and federal representatives in this committee would enable co-ordination across ministries to deliver joint interventions (e.g. aligning transport infrastructure with energy supply and land access). For example, the community group created to plan for the Jansen project in Saskatchewan could serve as a model for building social capacity early to capture the project’s economic benefits (Box 4.14).

Box 4.14. Regional Development Partnerships to benefit from a mining project: The Jansen project in Saskatchewan

A community group established in November 2023 met regularly to discuss various opportunities. The group was known as Sylvite 4-6 Regional Development Partnership (S4-6), in recognition of the mineral being mined at Jansen, and Treaties 4 and 6 territories in Saskatchewan, which are home to the regional communities surrounding BHP’s Jansen Project.

The committee is comprised of representatives of urban and rural municipalities and Indigenous Nations in the region surrounding the mine site, as well as representatives of BHP, the Mid Sask Municipal Alliance and the government of Saskatchewan.

Kurt Schreiner, a S4-6 member, is the mayor of LeRoy, a town of 500 located 10 kilometres from the Jansen mine. LeRoy was already growing prior to the BHP announcement but has invested significantly in the development of a new subdivision and improving its own sewer and water infrastructure to accommodate rapid growth in the near future.

By providing the needed services from various levels of government, S4-6 is helping to quickly close the gap between services available and services required for a town such as LeRoy, which is expected to significantly increase in size over the next three to four years.

This type of partnership allows communities themselves to determine what they need to benefit from and the value created by the mining project. It gives the mining company a platform to bring people together and address those needs.

Source: (Sylvite Four-Six regional partnership, 2024[75]) (Saskatoon StarPhoenix, 2024[76]);

• A permanent provincial group or council linked to the provincial mining strategy to gather provincial actors and rightsholders to address joint challenges based on local requests and oversee implementation of policies. The governance mechanism in Antofagasta aimed at doing this with an extended scope including various companies and civil society organisations, which is a powerful tool to ensure continued implementation and monitoring of the strategy beyond political cycles.

Building local development plans in mining municipalities, with monitoring mechanisms.

In order to identify the main short- and long-term priorities and formulate action plans to boost local development, municipal governments need robust planning capacity. They are confronted with several challenges such as retaining and attracting talent, especially in small labour markers where mining companies offer workers more attractive compensation. Also, Northern Ontario’s municipalities have responsibilities across large swathes of land with sparsely populated communities, which adds pressure to government staff to identify needs and deliver right policy support to all communities.

Development plans of municipalities across the region do not manage consistent timelines and targets. They often lack forward-looking approaches to identify opportunities beyond extractive industries. Mature mining municipalities like Thunder Bay have developed a mining strategy, Timmins is in the process of developing a long-term growth plan, while other small ones like Marathon or Greenstone still lack a long-term plan to link mining with local development and identify diversification opportunities. This issue has been raised by federal and provincial development programmes that argue that the support is not tailored to municipalities given the lack of identification of needs and action plans at the local level.

This approach of top-down grants for development incentivizes local governments to apply and adapt their priorities to conditions of those federal and provincial grants, rather than ensuring that grants are tailored to most pressing local priorities.

Developing long-term local plans are also important to encourage companies to adapt their ESG initiatives to pre-identified long-term needs. Such planning capacity requires municipalities to have local strategies that identify issues in labour markets, innovation ecosystem, business environment among others.

Other OECD mining regions have tried to address this issue with inter-municipal support bodies, or regional plans with dedicated governance structures to address primary priorities:

• North Karelia has an inter-municipal development agency, Business Joensuu Ltd, from whom municipalities acquired services that are not efficiently performed in the municipal government due to lack of staff or capacity, including business advisory and marketing services, job placement, investment attraction and event services

• Antofagasta has created a multi-actor governance structure to involve community representatives in the formulation of the regional mining policies, the investment priorities and the monitoring of its outcomes. This has helped shape common views and strategic projects from mining companies (Box 4.15).

Box 4.15. Multi-actor governance to implement and monitor a mining strategy: Antofagasta, Chile

Antofagasta’s Mining Strategy, launched in October 2022, included a governance mechanism made up of local stakeholders to prioritise projects, decide the best way to implement them, and monitor their results until 2050. It includes various regional stakeholders to ensure the strategy lasts beyond political cycles. It comprises:

• An executive secretary represented by a government official with a defined budget and team for operation and co-ordination.

• A steering committee that prioritises and monitors projects, and proposes new orientations to the strategy. It is composed of different regional actors with periodic rotation, including representatives from the regional or municipal Regional Civil Society Council (COSOC), the Indigenous Development Areas, large mining companies, small- and medium-sized mining companies and academia.

• The technical committee in charge of structuring and finding operators for the strategic projects, providing updates on the progress of the project and the budget, and responding to other requests from the steering committee.

Source: (OECD, 2023[77])

Improving financial capacity for mining communities to harness opportunities and costs from mining

Enhancing municipal revenues to manage externalities and capture mining benefits

While the provincial government retains primary responsibility for development and service delivery, municipal governments in Northern Ontario play a crucial role in ensuring community attractiveness and liveability. Ontario government responsibilities include health (hospitals), education, welfare, highways, housing, natural resources, and municipal affairs. Municipalities, by contrast, oversee local transport, emergency services, utilities, recreation and culture, land-use planning, and social housing, and share responsibility with the province for social protection, among others.

Municipalities with mining activities bear specific costs to maintain living standards that might come under pressure from the externalities of the mining sector. While the province has specific roles in mitigating impacts of the sector, municipal governments are in the front line to provide responses to citizens with regards to a number of issues, for example:

• Environmental: Although the province leads on monitoring and mitigating water and air pollution, municipalities bear the immediate impacts and community complaints. Therefore, they need to support funding for land-rehabilitation, ecosystem restoration or environmental monitoring actions.

• Social: Mining towns—particularly those with high proportions of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers—often experience elevated levels of insecurity and substance misuse. Municipal budgets must cover violence prevention programmes, support services for addiction, and family-violence interventions.

• Infrastructure: Heavy industrial traffic accelerates wear on local roads, necessitating more frequent maintenance. Municipalities must also procure land for social housing and incentivise the refurbishment of existing housing stock.

• Economic: To attract and retain skilled staff, municipalities must offer competitive salaries for public employees and foster local SME growth by channelling procurement and business-development opportunities

Ontario generates fiscal income from mining through a combination of mining profit taxes, and land related fees. The province imposes a 10% tax on annual taxable mining profits over CAD 500 000, with a reduced 5% rate for remote operations – this mining profit tax typically makes up about 90% of Ontario’s mining revenue. While royalties are relatively low compared to other provinces, they are part of Ontario’s broader fiscal framework, exemplified by systems like the diamond royalty (Ontario, 2025[78]). Ontario also collects rental fees from companies that use Crown land (land owned by the provincial government) for mining. These fees are separate from taxes and royalties. Companies pay them every year for the right to use the land, whether it is used for exploring, developing, or producing. The amount depends on the type of land agreement and the size of the land. For example, a company might pay a set minimum amount or a fee based on how many hectares they use (Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, 2015[79]) (Government of Ontario, 2007[80]). Overall, Ontario’s approach aligns with other Canadian jurisdictions that levy mining-specific taxes and royalties in addition to general corporate income taxes.

To redistribute the income from resource industries and partly mitigate the externalities from mining, the Ontario government has created the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) (See Box 3.16). This fund provides financial support focused on economic development rather than routine maintenance. The NOHFC has delivered substantial benefits to Northern Ontario, particularly in supporting economic growth, innovation, and job creation. Since June 2018, the NOHFC has invested over CAD 724 million in over 6000 projects, leveraging more than CAD 2.3 billion in additional investments and creating sustaining over 9400 jobs in Northern Ontario (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, 2020[81]). The fund stimulates growth by providing financial assistance to projects that encourage business expansion, innovation, and competitiveness across a range of industries, including mining, advance manufacturing, and renewable energy.

However, this is a project-based fund where grants or loans are allocated in response to an application from the municipalities and on a competitive basis. While it is good to ensure economic projects are highly relevant, the process requires municipalities to wade through bureaucracy with no guarantee of actually receiving the funds. This can make it difficult for mining municipalities with limited staff capacity or with needs to cover high expenses linked to impacts from mining (e.g. maintenance of roads).

Box 4.16. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC): Redistributing mining wealth?

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) is a government initiative established in 1988 to stimulate economic growth and development in Northern Ontario. Operating under the Ministry of Northern Economic Development and Growth (MNEDG), its goal is to promote and support economic initiatives through financial assistance. The MNEDG administers the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Act.

A project-based fund to promote economic development…

The NOHFC is an independent agency that provides various grants, loans, and incentives aimed at businesses and communities. Its funding programmes focus on business development, community enhancement, innovation and research, and workforce development, each designed to support different aspects of regional growth. The agency is governed by a Board of Directors, which is chaired by the Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth.

The application process varies depending on program and stream, and funding decisions are finalized through the NOHFC Board of Directors. The application process tends to involve a pre-application consultation, initial submission, a detailed business proposal, evaluation, and final review by the NOHFC Board. Funding varies by programme, with some offering conditional contributions (such as the Grow a Business Stream, which covers up to 20% of eligible costs to a maximum of CAD 400 000), while others provide term loans.

With an annual budget of approximately CAD 110 million, the NOHFC plays a key role in economic diversification and sustainable development, particularly in sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, and technology.

.. with scope to further compensate municipalities for the costs associated with mining

However, its project-based and/or competitive nature makes it less suitable for municipalities facing ongoing financial burdens or with reduced staff capacity. Furthermore, the bureaucratic application process, pre-established programmatic funding lines can also make it difficult for municipalities to access timely funding and have flexibility on the projects to finance from this.

The fund is intended to redistribute wealth from extractive industries to all municipalities, so it does not necessarily focus on helping municipalities address expenses associated with the side effects of mining or provide multi-year support to this end.

Source: (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, 2022[82]); (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, 2020[83]); (Ryan, nd[84])

Therefore, unlike other provinces, municipalities in Ontario do not directly receive a share of royalties or income tied to the evolution of mining taxes or revenue, relying instead on provincial grants for investments on development, and the local fiscal revenues for current expenses. Provincial grants can make up to 20% of funding in some municipalities, which often relies on the application capacity of municipal governments (Association of Municipalities of Ontario, 2024[85]). Important grants include the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF), which provides unconditional funding to municipalities across the province.

In terms of local revenues, municipalities in Ontario rely heavily on one single fiscal source, property taxes, that makes up about 40% of their total revenue (Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, 2020[86]). Other municipal revenues include User Fees and Service Charges (about 18% of total local revenues), comprising fees for services such as recreation programmes, waste management, and permits (the Corporation of the City of Brantford, 2021[87]), and development charges and land-related revenues, or “other revenues”, which vary in function of new developments in the area.

Despite the relevance of property taxes for local budgets, municipal governments do not control updates to the property tax levels to be collected. Property assessments, the basis for determining how much tax can be collected, are handled at the provincial level by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). This provincial non-profit corporation does the assessments and shares those values with municipalities so they can determine property and education taxes (Governemnt of Ontario, 2025[88]).

However, property values are still based on 2016 assessments (Miller Thomson, 2023[89]). Ontario used to undergo a general reassessment every 4 years, but since 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reassessment that year was delayed and has been ever since (Kate Porter, 2024[90]). It means that some industrial and mining properties may be taxed at lower rates than their actual value. It is worth noting that adjusting property values to reflect the current market conditions does not necessarily mean that property taxes will rise for all taxpayers (Ryan., 2024[91]). Properties go up by an average, and if every property went up exactly the average, no one would see any change.  As property tax in Ontario is calculated using the mill rate, only properties whose value increased by more than the average would pay more. 2

The outdated property tax assessments and uncertain access to provincial and federal grants are factors that may contribute to a fiscal imbalance for mining municipalities, as the growing wealth from resource-based economies may not align with the municipal costs of maintaining local infrastructure and services that support both the industry and community development. According to OGRA, municipalities are disproportionately responsible for local infrastructure upkeep, yet face significant structural funding shortfalls, contributing to Ontario’s CAD 34.7 billion roads and bridges infrastructure deficit (Miller Thomson, 2023[89]).

The province has already extra support that helps to invest in local infrastructure. This is mainly the goal of the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support (NORDS), created in 2021 to support municipalities in funding infrastructure projects related to resource activity – e.g. roads, bridges or culverts serving mines or forestry operations. It committed initially CAD 15 million per year (2021–22 through 2025–26) to be divided across all Northern Ontario municipalities, with allocations based on municipal population/households. Municipalities have used NORDS funding for a variety of projects and reported applications being straightforward (Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, 2023[92]). For example, Greater Sudbury used it for a new roundabout to reroute heavy mining trucks and ease congestion, North Bay used it to improve a key industrial arterial road. However, this fund is still a pilot, which creates uncertainty on its permanence over changes of government (Coffin, R., 2025[93]). Some mayors have still argued that amount of this fund is still relatively low for large infrastructure needs as it is no linked to mining revenues (Lentz, M., 2024[94]).

To help address the fiscal imbalance faced by mining-impacted municipalities and ensure local communities benefit more directly from mining-related wealth, the provincial government could consider the following step:

• Assess making the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support a permanent fund, maintaining its flexibility for capital projects and compatibility with other grants.

• Evaluate possibility to directly redistribute a share of mining taxes or royalties to local governments, for example. Other OECD countries, such as Finland have recently changed their jurisdiction to redistribute part of the mining tac to the municipalities that host mining projects

• Keeping up to date property assessments, particularly for industrial and mining properties, to ensure municipal tax revenues reflect current values.

• Supporting municipal capacity to design and collect property tax for mining and industrial properties as well as to establish agreements with companies to improve efficiency of property tax rates for local needs.

• Improved access to grants by streamlining application processes and increasing the availability of provincial and federal infrastructure grants for communities impacted by mining operations. Increasing multi-year funding support could be help municipalities support longer-term financial frameworks for community planning.

On top of government-related support, there are possibilities to incentivise partnerships among municipal governments and companies to share benefits from mining wealth, especially in cases where the operation is just outside the municipal boundaries. In these cases, or cases where mining companies can build operating building outside the municipality, municipal governments do not perceive a main fiscal income from industrial operations: the property tax. Therefore, partnerships to help increase local revenues can help communities see the benefits from these projects. These arrangements should also be developed in consultation with First Nations to increase legitimacy and alignment on shared benefits. Marathon municipality in Northern Ontario is a good example of such agreement with a mining operation outside the municipal boundaries that contributes to local fiscal revenues (Box 4.17).

Box 4.17. Marathon municipality’s agreement to tax company’s buildings outside municipal boundaries.

Marathon is a municipality of 4000 inhabitants, east of Thunder Bay, which has relied on forestry and then mining throughout the history. As other resource communities in the north, Marathon started as a camp to serve an industrial purpose, in this case the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway back in the 1880s (known as Peninsula Harbor by then) In the 1980s the town of Marathon, whose emblem stands for “built on the paper, laced with gold”, perceived boom in mining thanks to the important gold deposits in the area. Since then, Marathon and the surrounding area changed from a mill town to a mining-reliant economy. The mill in Marathon closed in 2009, and since then the town has been sustained by gold.

The initial Helmo mine was located just outside the municipal boundaries. When Barrick took over the mine in 2009, the municipality managed to agree on a special legislative Act – called Municipal Action Territorial Tax Act – intended to better share benefits with the Barrick Gold mine (use to be three mines now only one). It involves extending the municipal property tax to the mine buildings of the companies that were located outside Marathon’s municipal boundaries. This is a unique agreement in Ontario, as required provincial approval at the time.

Marathon and Manitouwage municipalities are the two included in the agreement. All of the above ground buildings are taxed based on municipal law and then the share is divided between the municipalities based on share of employees. This dates back to mid to late ‘80s. The mayor at the time said that it shouldn’t be on the backs of exciting rate payers only to cover the cost that mining brings to communities, for example in terms of new housing or new water sewer. Under the optic that resource wealth should pay for development, political commitment made possible this type of agreement.

Currently, the municipality is preparing for the mine opening of Generation mining, whose more than half of buildings will be in municipal boundaries and will fall under the Assessment Act in Ontario. The income from that new mine is expected to boost the municipal budget

Source: (Kovacs-Kowalke, 2019[95])

Streamlining funding access for economic development

As mentioned in previous sections, provincial and federal governments offer different financial support to local players and First Nations to develop economic, social and environmental actions to harness opportunities from mining. Such support comes from different funds that are managed and communicated by different ministries, which adds an extra effort for local ecosystems to be informed, apply and access these funds. This is illustrated in the substantial efforts made in seeking funds for innovation projects (see previous section).

Furthermore, bureaucracy and requirements to apply and report is seen by some as a disincentive to apply for provincial and federal grants. For example, companies and First Nation governments stress that the information request and monitoring requirements requires a dedicated staff person to manage such applications (e.g. funds related to revalorising mining waste).

Fragmentation of funds and bureaucratic processes related to accessing economic programmes tend to deter First Nations and small municipal governments from seeking government support. Lack of staffing capacity for and information channels about new programmes reduces the probability that applications will be completed. For these governments, applying to public programmes often pulls staff away from other tasks, requiring multitasking. For example, some First Nation governments only have one staff member who works on programme applications and subsequent reporting. Sometimes this same person also must juggle responsibilities related to partnerships with companies.

The province should evaluate the possibility to establish a single website and contact point to display and provide information about all the funds that are related to mining opportunities for local actors and First Nations. It could promote funds attached to Ontario’s Critical Mineral Strategy, OJEP, CMIF, and even support initiatives from other non-governmental actors, such as Ontario’s Mining Future 2030.

Strengthening horizontal co-ordination at local level for governance and management of mining projects

The municipal governments in the region have scope to improve their collaboration in terms of joint projects as well as sharing practices in their interaction with mining companies. Currently, municipal plans are mostly done separately with few mentions of joint opportunities with neighbouring municipalities. In some cases, this can represent missed opportunities for shared policies such as connecting regional actors and Indigenous peoples in the innovation ecosystem. As mentioned in Chapter 3, the need for horizontal co-operation across First Nation governments is also needed to share practices and build capacity and synergies.

The region already has mechanisms that promote inter-municipal co-ordination on specific aspects that could be expanded to other areas. For example, with regard to the labour market, Ontario’s Local Employment Planning Councils (LEPCs) co-ordinate labour-market analysis across regions, with the North Superior Workforce Planning Board (Thunder Bay area LEPC) working with mining experts to estimate related job demand in major new mines in northwest Ontario (North Superior Workforce Planing Board, 2019[96]). This practice could be extended to support other local enabling factors (e.g. infrastructure, housing, service delivery or innovation).

Beyond ad-hoc councils, other Canadian provinces have explored more formal inter-municipal agreements. This is the case of Aberta’s Municipal Government Act that mandates the creation of Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks (ICFs) across adjacent councils to create joint services and funding. This formal collaboration can be useful for sharing staff or pooling procurement.

Against this backdrop, the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association can take a greater role in promoting collaboration across municipalities based on potential benefits from mining projects. As seen in this chapter, basic sharing of experience across municipalities and more coordinated actions to partner with mining companies and First Nations can level up small municipalities facing new projects and improve standards of cooperation across the region.

In conclusion

Mobilising Northern Ontario’s assets to secure a reliable mineral supply and enhance provincial competitiveness requires policies that improve the conditions for mining projects, while ensuring First Nations’ participation and greater local benefits for resilient development.

To achieve these dual objectives, federal and provincial governments need to focus their support in addressing Northern Ontario’s basic development challenges, some of which are identified in the previous and current chapter. These include the meaningful participation of First Nations in the mining sector (Chapter 3), robust local innovation ecosystems and labour markets with greater quality of life, targeted support for businesses, and improved infrastructure for both industrial and community needs.

Implementing these policy measures might not work with a standard governance and implementation approach, it rather needs a place-based governance framework to Northern Ontario’s unique context. Key priorities for the policy implementation include:

• Enhancing municipal planning capacity to anticipate and manage mining impacts.

• Improving funding access for municipal and First Nation governments with streamlined application processes for provincial and federal grants, with multi-year funding and transparent communication.

• Strengthening vertical and horizontal coordination. Vertically to harmonize priorities among federal, provincial, First Nations, and municipal governments so that policies are co-designed and co-delivered; horizontally to foster collaboration among neighbouring municipalities and among First Nations to share best practices, pool resources, and act in concert.

Success will require political commitment to engage local stakeholders in co-identifying needs and tailoring policies accordingly, as well as in establishing clear monitoring mechanisms and robust communication channels to track outcomes and adapt interventions over time.

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[71] Wataynikaneyap Power (2024), Wataynikaneyap Power completes construction of “The Line that Brings Light”, https://www.wataypower.ca/updates/wataynikaneyap-power-completes-construction-of-the-line-that-brings-light.

[53] Zarifa, D., D. Hango and R. Pizarro Milian (2017), “Proximity, Prosperity, and Participation: Examining Access to Postsecondary Education among Youth in Canada’s Provincial North”, Rural Sociology, Vol. 83/2, pp. 270-314, https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12183.

Notes

← 1.  All ten of the largest Australian mining companies as of May 2024 have supplier website sections (size based on market capitalisation - https://miningdigital.com/top10/top-10-australian-mining-companies)

← 2.  Adjusting property values need to current market prices does not necessarily mean that property taxes will rise for all taxpayers. In practice, value reassessments mainly affect those whose property values have grown relatively more than the average. Property tax in Ontario is calculated using the mill rate, which depends on the municipality’s revenue needs and the total value of all properties. Therefore, if all properties had increased in value at the same rate since 2016 and the municipal budget remained unchanged, the individual tax rate would fall—keeping tax bills the same. Individual bills only increase if a property’s value rises faster than the average or if the municipality raises its budget.