Development of the Northwest Territories will be essential for Canada to produce batteries and tackle climate change, Canada's Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, said during his first visit to Yellowknife.
Alghabra, who visited the region to promote this year's federal budget said that the government would work with the territory to help it extract more minerals from the region in a responsible manner.
"The Northwest Territories is one of the richest regions in the country that has natural resources that will be essential for us," he said at a press conference on Thursday. "That's why I am here today... because I know this is going to help the region and help the country.
"We know the work that the Northwest Territories government has been doing and preparing and the vision that they have for understanding the natural resources capacity they have and finding ways to make sure we extract them in a sustainable smart way," he added.
Canada's northern provinces have a number of critical mineral mining projects in the advanced stages. However, most of these projects aren't connected to the grid and would largely depend on diesel for power, which runs counter to the use of many critical minerals to decarbonize the economy.
During his visit, Alghabra talked about the investments that the federal government proposed in this year's budget, including the $3.8 billion funding for the mining industry and the Canada Growth Fund, a fund that aims to help attract private sector investment to help meet important national economic policy goals.
Northwest Territories Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek described the region as essential for the beginning of a "truly Canadian critical minerals and metals value chain," and welcomed investments from the federal government.
"We have a deficit of infrastructure both in terms of the amount of infrastructure that we have and in terms of its age," said Wawzonek at the press conference. "We have several advanced projects... that stand to benefit from investments whether it be connecting roads (or) that allow for better hydro access for energy."
Furthermore, she said she was hopeful that the 2022 federal budget would help "accelerate" projects in the region and move them into the production phase.
Announced in early April, the budget proposed to allocate up to $1.5 billion for the development of critical minerals supply chains, with "a focus on priority deposits." It also proposed to introduce a new 30% tax credit for mineral exploration expenses incurred in Canada that target critical minerals like nickel, lithium, cobalt, copper, rare earths and others.