critical minerals race: canada, sudbury must act fast, expert cautions
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heather exner‑pirot delivers the opening keynote address to an audience at the annual bev in‑depth conference at cambrian college in sudbury, ont. on thursday may 28, 2026.
john lappa
/
sudbury star
the stakes in the critical minerals race have never been higher. as countries compete for the materials needed for batteries, clean energy and advanced manufacturing, canada – including sudbury – has a rare strategic advantage.
however, industry leaders say canada must act quickly before investment flows elsewhere. that was the central message delivered during the opening keynote address at the bev in-depth conference in sudbury by heather exner-pirot, a senior fellow and director of energy, natural resources and environment at the macdonald-laurier institutehttps://macdonaldlaurier.ca/ in ottawa.
the fifth edition of the annual conference addressed the theme of transforming the critical minerals value chain in the current geopolitical and economic climate. more than 250 people from the mining, automotive, defence, mineral processing, battery technology, clean energy, government and academia gathered at cambrian college on thursday to explore ideas and solutions to position canada as a leader in the critical minerals supply chain.
attendees heard that northern ontario – and sudbury – have a role to play in shaping the future, but only if its players can keep up with the pace of change.
a resource-based country like canada stands to benefit in the current commodity cycle, exner-pirot said. a commodity cycle is defined as a long-term pattern of boom-and-bust process for raw materials. however, this cycle has faced its share of disruptions to global trading routes, such as the pandemic, the russian invasion of ukraine, u.s. president donald trump’s tariffs and the closure of the strait of hormuz.
despite the change that has ensued in the wake of these world events, “canada has an opportunity to shape” future trade dynamics, she said.
“in this phase, we are moving to deposits that are not as good,” said exner-pirot in her keynote speech. “the grades are not as good. they’re deeper, they’re further, they’re more remote and they’re more expensive.”
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there is also a current shortage in the copper supply. copper is the most important metal in global electrification.
“everyone knows this gap is enormous,” she said, adding that demand is at an all-time high.
sudbury is already a major producer of critical metals, including copper. the opportunity ahead for sudbury is very real, as rising demand for critical minerals positions the region to further strengthen its relevance, attract new investments and expand its influence in the global economy.
meanwhile, exner-pirot said canada can take lessons from china, which recognized early its strategic advantage in critical minerals and built policies to strengthen its dominance. she said canada likewise has an opportunity to capitalize on its own strengths in the supply chain, including its leadership in potash and uranium production.
“and those are very geographically concentrated commodities,” she said, “and it’s usually what we lead with in trade negotiations, and if we wanted to disrupt things, we could. but really, what we can do is make sure no one else can disrupt us.”
for its part, china identified the minerals where it faced supply vulnerabilities and responded with targeted export restrictions and tailored policies for different commodities, said exner-pirot, arguing canada should adopt a similarly strategic approach.
“sometimes we just think china controls every critical mineral, and that is not true,” she said. “no one can, and no one does.”
further, exner-pirot said that gold should be considered a critical mineral in canada, seeing that it is the country’s second-largest export.
“it’s our most important mineral export and mineral production, and it drives the ecosystem for a lot more minerals,” she said. “gold is important to this province and to this country.”
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when it comes to nickel and graphite, and all battery minerals, canada lost the global market share, she said, while with gold, “we run around our competitors.”
“we need to think, why is gold different?” she told the crowd. “why were we successful with gold compared to the others?”
when it comes to base metals like nickel – perhaps the most important metal mined in sudbury – they drive the economy and employment. “they are very important, and we should have policies that support them, even though it’s not the thing that nato is most concerned about,” she said.
exner-pirot concluded that canada is well-positioned to excel as an energy superpower. but she said an important question remains: how much more can the country do to fully realize and maximize its potential?
in today’s geopolitical climate, traditional resource powers such as russia, china, the middle east and even the united states are increasingly viewed as less stable or reliable partners, she said. as countries and investors search for more secure alternatives, canada is uniquely positioned to strengthen its role and influence in global commodity and critical mineral markets.
the conference
the bev in-depth conference is organized by the city of greater sudbury, cambrian college, the centre for excellence in mining innovation, the electric vehicle society, frontier lithium, laurentian university, norcat and the ontario centre of innovation, and in partnership with the automotive parts manufacturers’ association, electric autonomy canada, kingston economic development and mineconnect.
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