Minerals and the economy

Canada is recognized as a leading mining nation. Our minerals sector, which includes exploration, mining and related support activities, primary processing, and downstream product manufacturing, is a mainstay of the economy that supports jobs and economic activity in every province and territory.

Find out what Canada is doing to advance the economy through minerals

Critical minerals

Canada is a leading global producer of critical minerals^{Footnote 1}, offering a reliable and responsibly produced supply of the materials essential for national security, advanced technologies, and the global energy transition. Critical minerals already make a substantial contribution to Canada’s economic prosperity by adding (directly and indirectly) $40 billion to the GDP and supporting more than 109,000 jobs in 2023.

Rising global demand presents a significant opportunity to expand this impact even further. Backed by strong environmental stewardship, world-class expertise, and a commitment to stable, secure supply chains, Canada is well positioned to strengthen its leadership in this strategic and rapidly evolving sector.

Learn more about critical minerals in Canada and consult the interactive map of critical minerals sites in Canada

Greenhouse gas emissions and advanced green technologies

Developing Canada's minerals sector in clean and sustainable ways ensures that it can continue to contribute to the Canadian economy for years to come.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Canadian mines have relatively low intensities of greenhouse gas emissions across a range of commodities. Canada’s carbon competitiveness stems from a host of advantages, including access to clean energy sources and significant investments in research, development, and adoption of green technologies.

Canadian mines and processing facilities continue to invest to lower their emissions through electrification of equipment and vehicle fleets and through the development of new technologies. This includes mines in remote off-grid locations that have few alternative energy sources. Some of these remote sites have installed wind turbines and other renewable solutions to help reduce their reliance on diesel fuel.

Advanced green technologies

The Green Mining Initiative, led by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), aims to improve the minerals sector's environmental performance and create green technology opportunities. NRCan works in close partnership with provincial and territorial governments, industry, academia, non-governmental organizations, and other interested stakeholders, such as the Canada Mining Innovation Council.

Learn more about the green mining innovation and other mining research and innovation at CanmetMINING.

Mineral production

Canada is the global leader in potash production and ranks among the top five global producers of cobalt, diamonds, gold, indium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, titanium concentrate, and uranium.

Canada is also the world’s fourth-largest producer of primary aluminum.

Learn more about 10 Key Facts on Canada’s Minerals Sector (PDF - 2505 KB).

Mineral production by commodity group

The value of Canadian mineral production in 2024 was $64.3 billion, down 9% from $70.4 billion in 2023. The value of metals production rose by 1%, while non-metals and coal declined by 19% and 22%, respectively, largely because of lower coal and potash prices.

Canada’s top five mineral products by value for 2024 were gold, coal, potash, iron ore concentrates, and copper. Their combined value was $45.3 billion, accounting for over two thirds of the total value of mineral production.

Service suppliers

Canadian cities provide regional bases for supporting exploration, mining, and allied industries through specialized equipment and service suppliers. Large urban areas, such as Toronto and Vancouver, are also recognized as global hubs for mining and mineral exploration, financing, and legal services.

Thousands of firms in Canada are available to provide technical, legal, financial, accounting, environmental, and other expertise to the exploration and mining industry.

Transportation plays a key enabling role for the minerals sector, not only in delivering mineral products to markets, but also in bringing equipment and supplies to mining operations. The transportation industries – such as rail – benefit from a vibrant mining sector because mining accounts for over half of Canada's rail-freight tonnage annually.

Consult Canada’s Minerals and Mining Map for locations and information on Canada’s major metallic, non-metallic and industrial mineral mines.

Mineral exploration

Mineral exploration is the search for materials in the Earth's crust where concentration and quantity allow for extraction and processing at a profit.

The amount spent on mineral exploration and on deposit appraisal activity depends largely on market conditions and commodity prices. Over the last decade, mineral and metal prices fluctuated significantly, with a notable decline from 2014 to 2016 as global supply outpaced demand, driven by slowing economic growth in key emerging markets such as China. This decline led to reduced spending on exploration and appraisal activities during this period.

Prices began to recover in the latter part of 2016, a trend that continued into the second half of 2019, but shifted for most metals in early 2020 because of the economic lockdowns implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Metal prices recovered late in 2020 as supply diminished and demand recovered. In 2021 and in the first half of 2022, the pace at which prices rose intensified because of growing inflationary pressures and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In 2023, prices for many metals declined, with battery metals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt particularly affected by oversupply and weaker demand. Despite this, 2024 and 2025 saw renewed upward pressure on many metals, driven by expectations of lower interest rates, ongoing investment in clean energy technologies, and continued demand from industrial and energy transition sectors. Gold, in particular, has performed exceptionally well, reaching record highs throughout 2024 and 2025 as investors sought safe-haven assets amid economic uncertainty.

Mineral exploration by commodity

Canada benefits from a diversified mineral endowment that includes traditional commodities, such as gold, base metals and diamonds, as well as critical minerals essential for clean energy applications and advanced technologies, such as rare earth elements, graphite and lithium.

In 2024, exploration spending was highest for precious metals, reaching $1.8 billion—a 13% decrease from 2023—and accounting for 44% of total expenditures. Base metals followed, representing 27% of total spending at $1.1 billion.

Mineral exploration by province and territory

In 2024, Ontario was the leading jurisdiction in terms of mineral exploration spending, followed by Quebec and British Columbia. These three jurisdictions accounted for 63% of total exploration and deposit appraisal expenditures.

Mineral exploration by company type

Two types of companies work in mineral exploration:

• Senior companies normally derive recurring operating revenues from mining or other business segments. These are not necessarily mining companies.
• Junior companies have no internally generated revenue (i.e. they do not have an operating mine) and rely mostly on equity markets to raise the capital necessary to conduct their exploration programs.

Junior mining companies tend to specialize in early-stage exploration activities, while senior companies are more likely to bring mines into production.

Junior companies play a critical role in the discovery and advancement of mineral projects in Canada, projects that represent the next generation of Canadian mines. In 2024, junior mining companies spent $2.0 billion on exploration and deposit appraisal activities, down 6.6% from 2023. Senior company expenditures decreased by 1% over 2023 to reach $2.1 billion.

Learn more about Canadian mineral exploration.

Canadian mining assets

Canadian exploration and mining companies are active across the globe. The extent of their presence can be determined by examining the value and location of Canadian mining assets.

In 2024, the total value of Canadian mining assets increased by 4.1% from the previous year, with the portion located in Canada decreasing by 3.7%. Outside of Canada, the value of Canadian mining assets increased by 8.1%.

Canada's presence abroad

In 2024, 71.5% of the value of Canadian mining assets abroad were in the Americas, where the value of assets increased by 8.6% from the previous year. Assets worth a total of $220.4 billion were located in 95 foreign countries in 2024. The top 10 countries are presented in the following table.

Learn more about the global presence of Canadian mining companies.

Indigenous partnerships and participation

NRCan’s lands and minerals sector is committed to promoting Indigenous partnerships and participation in mineral exploration and mining activities by sharing information to support informed decision-making and encouraging community capacity building.

Indigenous representation in the minerals sector has increased in the last decade, especially in the mining industry.

Learn more about our tools and information products on Indigenous participation in exploration and mining.

Indigenous employment

Based on the 2021 census, over 17,300 Indigenous Peoples were employed in Canada’s mining and mineral processing industries. About half of the Indigenous employment was in the upstream mining subsector, where Indigenous Peoples accounted for 11% of the industry’s labour force, more than double the all-industry average representation of 4%.

Agreements between companies and Indigenous Peoples

Agreements between mineral exploration and mining companies and Indigenous communities or governments have enabled secure benefits for many Indigenous communities and businesses and improved certainty for exploration and mining companies. Fostering the relationship between industry and Indigenous businesses builds the capacity for Indigenous businesses to capitalize on economic opportunities available in or near their communities. It also allows industry to create reliable, local supply chains and the social licence to operate in a community.

Learn more about Indigenous Peoples and Natural Resources.

Nominal GDP in the minerals sector

In 2024, the direct contribution of Canada’s minerals and metals sector to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $112 billion. The indirect contribution from the minerals and metals sector added a further $44 billion to the GDP, for a total of $156 billion, which represented 5% of Canada’s total GDP.

Employment in Canada's minerals sector

The minerals sector offers well-paid, high-quality jobs for Canadians across the country, including many in northern and remote locations.

In 2024, the minerals and metals sector directly employed 438,000 individuals and indirectly employed an additional 286,000, for a total of 724,000 individuals.

At $146,213, the average annual total compensation per job in the mining industry is almost twice the all-industry average of $78,098.

• Employment by subsector, by product group, and by year
• Employment by industry and by year
• Compensation per job by industry and by year

Financing

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) are the world’s primary listing venues for mining and mineral exploration companies. They included more than 1,097 issuers in 2024, accounting for about 40% of global listings.

In 2024, about 46% ($10.4 billion) of the world’s total equity capital for these activities was raised by companies listed on the TSX or TSXV. This amount also accounted for 49% of the number of mining equity financings for mineral exploration and mining globally. Canada is ranked first in the world in equity financing raised for mining and mineral exploration.

Government revenues

In 2023, the mining and related support activities (mining and quarrying and support activities for mining) paid $6.8 billion in corporate income taxes and royalties. Mining taxes and royalties account for 58% of that amount, while the remainder is paid in the form of corporate income taxes to the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.

Read more on taxes relevant to the minerals and metals industries.

Trade

In 2024, Canada’s mineral imports and exports, which include ores, concentrates, and semi- and final-fabricated mineral products, recorded a balance of trade of over $34.2 billion.

Exports

Valued at $153.0 billion in 2024, domestic mineral exports accounted for 21% of Canada’s total merchandise exports.

Learn more about Canada's mineral imports and exports.

Minerals sector investment

In 2024, the minerals sector invested $22.2 billion in new capital construction and in machinery and equipment, accounting for 6% of the Canadian total.

Learn more about capital investment by Canada's minerals sector.

Major natural resource projects

In 2024, current and potential investment in major mining-related projects (e.g. mine construction, redevelopment, expansion and processing facilities) over the next 10 years was estimated at $117.1 billion in capital expenditures, spread over 138 projects, compared with $93.6 billion and 129 projects in 2023.

Learn more about major natural resource projects that are planned and under construction over the next 10 years.