Mining experts welcome Mark Carney's funding but caution success won't come easy

But Gratton, who attended the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual conference in Toronto this week, highlighted that the federal government’s direct financial support of the industry is necessary, especially for critical minerals, because Canadian miners are competing against the Chinese government. 

“Many of the commodities that the government is directly supporting are commodities that China has a disproportionate control of and we’re competing with state-owned enterprises that don’t follow market principles,” he said. 

He said Canadian miners can compete with China once the mines are underway, but that can be a lengthy wait. 

“China can crush you before you even start producing by collapsing the price and scaring investors,” he said. 

The mining conference is an event that attracts thousands of people in the industry, including small players and major international companies, as well as government officials, banks and investors from around the world. 

Jeff Killeen, the association’s director of policy, agrees China is a major concern for the industry and said breaking its control on the market won’t be easy or quick. 

“The control that China exacts on commodity prices today as a result of a long-term strategy that they’ve been deploying for several decades now so we can’t be so short-sighted to think that whatever we do today will have an immediate and permanent effect in a year or two,” he said.  

Killeen said it could previously take decades for a mine in Canada to go from discovery to production and to start repaying investors, so while the government has made a lot of important changes the skepticism may linger. 

”Canadians or the market or our industry might be right to be skeptical about a pivot in strategy of this scale until results are felt on the ground.”

Still, Killeen said 2026 could be a major year for construction. 

“The amount of expenditures expected to go into the ground in Canada in 2026 may be an all-time high,” he said. 

Among the attending the Toronto Convention Centre for the conference was Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson. He came with more commitments from the Liberal government, which has already heavily invested in the sector in the last year.

Hodgson announced funding for several projects out of a $1.5 billion fund, which pays for power lines and roads that help make a mine a reality. 

“We can fast-track exploration. We can improve investment certainty, and that will get projects moving that will become the resilient value chains Canadians and our allies are counting on,” he said when announcing the money. 

He also promised more details soon on a $2 billion critical minerals sovereign fund that will make investments in mining projects. This comes on top of more deals through a G7 alliance on critical mineral projects first announced last year. 

Conservative house leader Andrew Scheer said a decade of Liberal rule put the country behind when it comes to mining operations.

“Canada should already be a world leader in critical minerals but for the anti-development laws that have kept our natural wealth in the ground,” he said in a statement. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new deal with Australia during his Indo-Pacific tour this week and an a major deal for Cameco — a Saskatchewan uranium mining company — with India, while back home Hodgson announced regulatory approval for another uranium mine, the Rook 1 mine in the province.

Of the 11 projects the government has forwarded to its Major Projects Office — set up to approve projects considered to be in the national interest — five are proposed mines. 

Scheer called on Carney to release details of the Australian agreement saying the Liberals have yet to actually get shovels on the ground, despite their spending promises. 

“Far too many of Carney’s deals are meaningless communiques and Canadians deserve to see details of whatever has been signed,” Scheer said.