Establishing Canada’s Critical Minerals and Battery Value Chain
The conversation and urgency around critical minerals is everywhere these days. Much of what’s needed to fuel the energy transition is the metals and materials needed to make batteries and their components, but the battery industry is still developing. This emerging industry will play a critical role in our shared energy future.
To establish the full value chain, from mines to mobility, requires moving forward in a way that addresses the environmental and social impacts on ecosystems and communities, from mineral extraction to processing to manufacturing to recycling. As the industry continues to develop there’s a window of opportunity to build a foundation of good relations with Indigenous peoples, communities and businesses as the full value chain is being formed.
In partnership with the Battery Metals Association of Canada (BMAC), Energy Futures Lab is advancing a bold, strategic vision; establishing a Western Canadian battery hub that supports the entire battery value chain — from mineral extraction to mobility. Working in close partnership with BMAC, the Lab has explored three strategic initiatives designed to position Canada as a leader and leverage regional strengths to support this growing, and increasingly critical industry.
While Ontario and Quebec have succeeded in building emergent industrial clusters that are poised to supply critical minerals and other battery materials that will integrate into the supply chain, Western and Northern Canada has been slower off the mark despite having all the ingredients to compete for this investment.
The critical minerals, battery materials, and the steps along the supply chain from mines to mobility will be foundational to our future economy. When you layer in Western Canada’s expertise in material and chemical processing, refining, and nationally our ability to create circular economies at scale, this is a success story waiting to be told. It will take radical collaboration between the business community, government, Indigenous Peoples and communities, and investors working together to find a balance between social, economic, and environmental impacts.
Beginning in 2021, we convened industry actors and released a Roadmap for Canada’s Battery Value Chain in the spring of 2022 with BMAC, Transition Accelerator, and Accelerate ZEV. The report highlights the actions needed to create an integrated value chain, emphasizing the development of midstream processing as the lynchpin. It also underscored the importance of strong public-private-Indigenous partnerships to anchor Canada’s leadership in the global energy transition. This was the first step in a series of strategic initiatives designed to foster collaboration and innovation, and the need for further convening on key issues was identified.
A cornerstone of this work is establishing right relations with Indigenous communities. We believe that full participation and partnership at every stage of the battery value chain is not only essential but foundational to doing business in a good way. To this end, Energy Futures Lab has been engaged to host workshops focusing on Indigenous Perspectives and Indigenous Partnerships, creating space for meaningful dialogue and action.
Further, all of the above has laddered into the conceptualization of what is hoped to become the Western Canadian Battery Hub – convening and supporting research into the specific sectoral needs in service of establishing a sustainable, inclusive hub model that forms part of an integrated value chain with the potential to impact not only the Canadian economy, but the North American economy. There’s endless potential in how to leverage Western Canada’s regional strengths, expertise, and wealth of critical minerals to drive this economic potential.
BMAC has partnered with the Lab and the Transition Accelerator to shape the concept of a Western Canadian Battery Hub. From late fall 2024 through to early 2025, we’re embarking upon a workshop series designed to conceptualize and design the Hub, and to build a coalition of stakeholders, rights holders, and title holders that will help make it a reality
Earlier this year we partnered with the Battery Metals Association of Canada to help bridge Industry and Indigenous perspectives as Canada’s battery value chain continues to take shape. This convening moment brought together Indigenous leaders with industry experts to respond to this question:
Building on a full day of rich conversation and knowledge sharing in May at a workshop we co-hosted a second session within BMAC’s Charged! Conference on October 29th in Calgary.
With guidance from an outstanding Indigenous Advisory Circle, opening the conference with a session on Indigenous partnerships helped set the intention and direction for the remaining time, ensuring Indigenous voices and perspectives were both integrated throughout, and showed up within critical conversations on how to work in a good way to progress this emerging sector.
Demand for electric vehicles is growing at a rate that exceeds even the most robust recent predictions. This roadmap presents a national strategy for Canada to capitalize on its abundant mineral resources and outlines the action items required to meet net zero targets and electric vehicle demand in Canada, including collaborative partnerships between governments, industry, Indigenous communities and organizations, universities, and civil society organizations via public-private-Indigenous partnerships and the required steps to forge a homegrown ecosystem.
If you believe this is an important initiative and would like to inform the concept of the Western Canadian Battery Hub, or if you have any questions, please contact
Brian Nicholson
Director, Government Relations
[email protected]
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