Critical mineral buyers club

TECH

Canada invests $1.9B to kickstart critical minerals

What happened: Canada announced almost $1.9 billion in funding for critical minerals and mining at a G7 energy and environment meeting in Toronto.

The deals include partnerships with allied countries to build out domestic supply chains and reduce China’s dominance in the sector.

The details: The funding includes 26 projects across rare earths, graphite and other critical minerals and draws on existing pools of capital like the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Export Development Canada.

Notably, the deals include offtake agreements, price floors, and an “equity-like” royalty investment by the Canada Growth Fund to buy scandium from Rio Tinto.

The federal government also invoked the Defence Production Act to stockpile three minerals.

The context: Instruments like offtake agreements and price floors give companies the certainty they need to move forward with large, capital intensive projects. Particularly in critical minerals where prices can fluctuate in global markets.

More niche materials also benefit from these tools because, while they’re a critical component in some applications, they’re only used in very small amounts. Securing demand can help make these projects economically viable.

CGF’s investment also signals a willingness to take more equity positions in the industry in order to accelerate. The U.S. has used this to take ownership stakes in Lithium Americas, Electra Battery Materials, and others.

Why it matters: Critical minerals like graphite and rare earths are key to both clean-energy and defence supply chains. However, China dominates the sector and has imposed export controls in the past to limit access.

This new funding could help get Canada’s industry off the ground, providing guaranteed buyers to unlock investments. It also goes beyond just extraction and also invests in several value-added midstream processing projects.

Yes, but: Supply needs demand, and Canada’s EV value chain has faced a number of setbacks and plant closures. Government offtakes are a much-needed tool for the near-term, but commercial buyers are needed for long-term success.

The bottom line: Canada’s mineral funding is both industrial strategy and geopolitical positioning. If Canada can convert this funding into operational mines and plants, it may finally turn its mineral potential into climate leverage.

CLIMATE CAPITAL

💨 NorthX announced a $3.4 million investment into four carbon removal companies, including Carbon Run’s aquatic sequestration and Skyrenu’s modular direct air capture system.

☀️ George Gordon First Nation closed $42 million from the Canada Infrastructure Bank for the 32MW Wicehtowak Solar project in Saskatchewan

🌱 The Natural Assets Initiative received $150K in funding from the RBC Foundation to scale natural asset management via its NatureScan platform.

⛏️ Nano One Materials secured $5 million from Natural Resources Canada to scale and commercialize its one-pot process for lithium iron phosphate cathode materials.

♻️ Lithion Technologies, a Montreal-based battery recycling company, filed for creditor protection. The company raised $100 million to date.

IN THE FIELD

🌋 Geothermal startup Eavor says it has reduced drilling times by 50% and could increase energy output by 35% after drilling its first well at its Germany project.

💨 Vancouver carbon removal startup Arca secured a 10-year agreement with Microsoft to remove nearly 300,000 tonnes of CO2 using its carbon mineralization technology.

💧 Power-to-X plans to build a low-carbon hydrogen plant in Ontario, capable of producing 14 million kg per year.

📊 Mangrove Systems partnered with carbon removal leader Charm Industrial to power their digital measurement, reporting, and verification (dMRV) infrastructure.

🏭 Norway’s Vianode will build a $1.4B plant in Ontario to supply North America with synthetic graphite.

🌊 SeaFoam won the COAST Pitchfest for its carbon-negative building insulation made from waste wood and seaweed byproducts.

🔋 Electrovaya launched a Japanese subsidiary to support new growth areas for its lithium-ion battery technology.

💧 Max Power got approval to drill Canada’s first natural hydrogen well in Saskatchewan.

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ECOSYSTEM VIEW

Accelerating Canada’s climate tech flywheel

As the U.S. backtracks on climate policy, Canada's climate tech flywheel is drawing more attention from international investors.

More U.S. funds are recognizing the potential in Canada, where a solid resource base, supportive policy, technical talent, and capital networks reinforce one another, creating a flywheel with powerful potential.

We teamed up with Jennifer McDonald and the team from the Cycle Capital platform to unpack strong building blocks in Canada's climate tech flywheel and why it's attracting more global attention. We also look at how Quebec is building an aligned ecosystem across policy, infrastructure and capital - and how we can close early-stage gaps in venture creation and access to capital.

➡️ Check out the full piece here.

NEWS

📡 Signals & Currents

The Canadian government is going after some of the $15 billion in incentives that it offered NextStart Energy, a joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy, to build EVs in Ontario after the company moved production to the U.S. [CBC]

Why it matters: It shows the potential pitfalls of investing in the branch plant operations of foreign-owned companies, particularly in this new trade reality. Structuring incentives need to be structured to limit public risk - and build out domestic capacity.

The U.S. announced a new partnership with Westinghouse, Saskatchewan nuclear fuel provider Cameco and Brookfield, to develop $80 billion worth of new Westinghouse reactors in the U.S. [Axios]

The multilateral Green Climate Fund announced its largest deal, committing $295 million to a water desalination project in Jordan. [Reuters]

Ontario’s electricity rates will jump 29% due to higher-than-expected costs from nuclear and energy saving programs. [CTV & Ontario]

Ontario is formally exploring an East-West pipeline and energy corridor to move oil and gas from western Canada to waterways in Ontario. [G&M]

The province also invested $30M to launch another funding round for the Hydrogen Innovation Fund. [Ontario]

Pathways has started discussions with Canada’s Major Projects Office to build a 400 km pipeline to transport captured carbon from oil sands facilities. [G&M]

Europe’s biggest asset manager joined an investor coalition calling for stronger climate disclosures from Canadian companies. [G&M]

Hurricane Melissa will trigger a $150M catastrophe bond for Jamaica, providing $150M in expedited disaster recovery funding. [CNBC]

The UK is investigating biomass energy producer Drax for alleged misleading statements about sustainable wood sourcing, including from Canadian forests. [Semafor]

National climate plans submitted to the UN will reduce emissions by just 10% - nowhere near the level needed to limit global heating to 1.5C. [The Guardian]

COMMUNITY

🚀 Hydrogen Innovation Fund: Ontario’s IESO is seeking hydrogen projects with direct electricity system benefits and broader energy applications. Apply by February 11th, 2026.

➡️ Discover more funding opportunities.

🗓️ Converge 2025: Converge brings together climate tech leaders, funders, policymakers, and industry to discuss the critical need to scale the technologies that can cut emissions, create jobs, and grow resilient industries right here in Canada. November 19th, Vancouver.

➡️ Discover more climate events.

🧑🏻‍💻 MaRS is hiring a Program Manager to lead the design, delivery, and strategic growth of venture cohort programs, including the MaRS’ Women in Cleantech (WIC) program.

➡️ Find more open roles.