Emerging and critical materials

The Emerging and Critical Materials Program focuses on the design, development, manufacturing, and recycling of next-generation materials and products that support environmental sustainability, competitiveness, and safety for Canadians in a variety of sectors.

Novel materials are essential for these applications and some of them are identified as critical by many nations due to the scarcity of supply, concentration of suppliers and risk of supply chain disruption. Our focus on critical minerals is on supporting midstream supply chain development, which includes recycling and recovery of materials from waste and aligns with Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy.

This program has several strategic areas:

Defence and naval materials

• Materials science supporting safe and efficient operation of naval fleets and defense assets in Canada

Battery materials development and manufacturing scale-up

• Development of anodes, coatings, and electrolytes including non-lithium chemistries
• Manufacturing scale-up of all battery materials

Recovery of battery minerals

• From secondary sources, including end-of-life products, industrial waste, and brines

Magnetic material processing

• Development of magnetic materials, scale-up manufacturing, and recovery of Rare Earth Elements from secondary sources

Intermediate structural and functional materials

• Development, manufacturing scale-up, and recycling of metals for industrial and clean energy applications