Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy in 2026: Where the Money Is Going

A dated breakdown of federal critical minerals money in 2026: the CMIF, Budget 2025's new funds, the Critical Minerals Accelerator and allied deals.

Key takeaways

Budget 2025 created a C$1.5 billion First and Last Mile Fund, a C$2 billion investment vehicle and C$443 million in defence industrial support.
The first Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator deal, announced July 7, 2026, commits up to C$400 million to Teck’s Trail smelter.
Allied partnerships under the G7 alliance have mobilized C$18.5 billion across two rounds, per Natural Resources Canada, which is not federal spending.

Canada’s federal critical minerals spending has shifted from grants for studies toward equity, offtake and infrastructure money. Budget 2025 added a C$2 billion investment vehicle and a C$1.5 billion infrastructure fund on top of the original 2022 strategy, and allied deals under a G7 alliance now total C$18.5 billion in mobilized capital, according to Natural Resources Canada. Here is where the money has gone, with dates.

The starting point: the 2022 strategy

The Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy was published in 2022 with nearly C$4 billion over eight years attached, as law firm McCarthy Tetrault summarizes it. That money ran through existing programs such as the Strategic Innovation Fund, plus new ones for geoscience, research and infrastructure. The stated goal was to build domestic value chains, from exploration through processing and recycling.

The infrastructure piece became the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF). It funds roads, transmission lines and grid connections that let mineral projects reach power and markets. As of March 2026, the CMIF had announced up to C$421.9 million in contributions across 38 energy and transportation projects covering 19 critical minerals. Both application streams are now closed, with the latest intake under review.

What Budget 2025 added

The November 4, 2025 federal budget created three new pools, according to Natural Resources Canada’s February 2026 progress update:

Program	Amount	Period	Purpose
First and Last Mile Fund	C$1.5 billion	2026 to 2030	Infrastructure and project support to move mines toward production
Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund (now the Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator)	C$2 billion	Five years	Equity and debt investments alongside industry
Defence Industrial Strategy support	C$443 million	Five years	Processing technology and stockpiling

The budget also changed tax credits for flow-through share investors. The Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit stays at 30% of eligible exploration spending. Its list of qualifying minerals grew to add bismuth, cesium, chromium, fluorspar, germanium, indium, manganese, molybdenum, niobium, tantalum, tin and tungsten. The general Mineral Exploration Tax Credit was renewed for flow-through agreements signed on or before March 31, 2027.

Where the 2026 money has gone

March 3, 2026 (PDAC). Ottawa announced up to C$165.2 million for 22 mining projects, including up to C$114.9 million for the first five First and Last Mile Fund projects. The government said this unlocks over C$434 million in total project capital. It also committed up to C$40 million to a Canadian Digital Core Library, plus C$59.4 million for domestic critical minerals acceleration, C$96.7 million for research and C$8.27 million for a stockpiling regime under the defence envelope.

July 7, 2026. The first deal under the Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator. The Canada Growth Fund will invest up to C$400 million, in an equity-like structure, in Teck’s Trail smelter in British Columbia, part of a potential Teck investment of up to C$850 million. The expansion targets germanium and antimony, with possible new gallium output. The agreement includes potential offtake rights for Canada on part of that production.

August 5, 2026. A First and Last Mile Fund award of about C$5 million for power and road pre-development work to connect a Quebec phosphate project to rail and port, matched by roughly C$5 million of private money.

The allied deals

Canada launched the Critical Minerals Production Alliance at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta in June 2025. In June 2026 G7 leaders renamed it the Critical Minerals Resilience and Production Alliance. Its envoys come from Canada, the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Australia and the European Union.

October 2025: 26 investments and partnerships with nine allied countries, which NRCan said unlocked C$6.4 billion in projects.
March 2, 2026: 30 more partnerships with 12 allied partners, unlocking C$12.1 billion. Deal types included offtake agreements, equity stakes and R&D funding of up to C$64.8 million.
June 2026: 13 new partnerships with more than eight countries.

Separately, a June 17, 2026 joint statement from the leaders of Canada and Germany committed the two countries to a stockpiling partnership leading to capital investments by the end of 2026.

The provinces are adding their own money

Federal programs sit on top of provincial ones, and several provinces moved in the past year, according to a June 11, 2026 review by law firm McCarthy Tetrault:

Ontario launched a C$500 million Critical Minerals Processing Fund in December 2025 and updated its strategy in March 2026.
Quebec added C$1 billion to its critical and strategic minerals fund in its 2026-2027 budget, and signed collaboration agreements with the United Kingdom (December 2025) and Germany (March 2026).
British Columbia and six other western jurisdictions signed a Western Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy memorandum of understanding in January 2026.

The same review notes the federal February 2026 progress update counted 140 mining projects expected between 2024 and 2034, representing C$72.4 billion in potential investment.

By the numbers

Adding the federal pools named in this article gives a sense of scale. These figures cover different years and are not all new cash.

2022 strategy: nearly C$4 billion over eight years
Budget 2025 new pools: C$1.5 billion + C$2 billion + C$0.443 billion = C$3.943 billion
CMIF contributions announced to March 2026: C$421.9 million
Alliance capital mobilized, two rounds: C$6.4 billion + C$12.1 billion = C$18.5 billion, the figure NRCan itself reports

The Alliance figure counts private and allied capital tied to announced deals. It is not federal spending. The Teck agreement shows the ratio the government is aiming for: up to C$400 million of public capital alongside up to C$850 million of company investment.

What to watch

Further agreements under the Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator, which has deployed one publicly announced deal from its C$2 billion allocation.
First and Last Mile Fund award announcements through 2030.
Results of the latest CMIF intake, currently under review.
The March 31, 2027 deadline for flow-through agreements that qualify for the renewed exploration tax credits.
Capital investments from the Canada and Germany stockpiling partnership, targeted by the end of 2026.
The next federal budget, which will show whether these programs are topped up or trimmed.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How much is Canada spending on critical minerals?

The 2022 Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy came with nearly C$4 billion over eight years. Budget 2025 added three pools: a C$1.5 billion First and Last Mile Fund, a C$2 billion Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund now called the Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator, and C$443 million in defence industrial support. The figures cover different years and are not all new cash.

What is the Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator?

The Canada Critical Minerals Accelerator, originally named the Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund, is a C$2 billion, five-year pool from Budget 2025 for equity and debt investments alongside industry. Its first deal, announced July 7, 2026, has the Canada Growth Fund investing up to C$400 million in Teck’s Trail smelter in British Columbia, targeting germanium and antimony.

What is the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund?

The Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund pays for roads, transmission lines and grid connections that let mineral projects reach power and markets. As of March 2026 it had announced up to C$421.9 million in contributions across 38 energy and transportation projects covering 19 critical minerals. Both application streams are closed, with the latest intake under review.