Ontario wants to speed up mine approvals. Critics say it's using the tariff threat as a pretext
Premier Doug Ford blames 'red tape,' but that's not the only reason for lengthy timelines in mining
Premier Doug Ford's government is pushing ahead with sweeping new legislation it says will speed up the approval of mining projects in Ontario, but critics say the province is using the threat of tariffs as an excuse to loosen environmental regulations on the industry.
Called the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, or Bill 5, the legislation includes major changes to the province's endangered species and environmental protection laws. It faces a committee hearing at Queen's Park starting Thursday.
The bill also empowers the government to designate any location in the province as a "special economic zone," and in turn allows cabinet to exempt any project or company within such a zone from having to comply with any provincial laws or regulations.
Ford has specifically mentioned the so-called Ring of Fire mineral deposit in northern Ontario as the kind of project that could be designated a special economic zone.
When Ford announced the legislation in April, he blamed a "maze of bureaucracy, red tape and duplicative processes," for slowing down mining production in Ontario, and pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs as a rationale for quicker approvals.
Jamie Kneen, national program co-lead for Mining Watch Canada, a non-profit advocacy group, says it's undemocratic for the government to give itself the power to exclude mines in special economic zones from environmental regulations.
He questions whether tariffs are a legitimate reason to reduce regulatory oversight of the mining sector.
"They're just using this as a pretext for doing what they wanted to do already and hoping that people won't notice that the two are not really connected," Kneen said in an interview.
Mining worth $16B to Ontario economy
Mining is worth some $16 billion a year to Ontario's economy. The Ford government wants to boost production of critical minerals — such as cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium and nickel — as global demand surges, in part from growth in electric vehicle production.
It currently takes more than 15 years for a typical mine to go from discovery to production in Ontario, but it's not clear the bill will dramatically shorten that timeline.
Ontario's Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, says the changes will cut the timeline for government approvals of mines in half, shaving two years off the process.
"If Australia and the United Kingdom and France and Germany and the U.S. and South Korea can open a mine faster than Ontario, how can we be left behind? How can the status quo be defensible?" Lecce told a news conference Wednesday.
Governments of various stripes around the country are on a similar push to the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to slash years off the federal timeline for reviewing major natural resource projects.
- British Columbia's NDP government is proposing fast-track approvals for 18 specific projects, including several mines.
- Quebec's François Legault said this spring that it's urgent for his province to speed up approvals of critical minerals projects, and said he wants to get rid of bureaucracy involved in obtaining permits.
Kneen is skeptical that Ontario's shortened approval process will make mineral extraction happen much faster.
"I've gotten really tired of hearing about how long it takes to develop a mine and how this is all because of environmental assessment and regulation and permitting, when the fact of the matter is it's almost entirely due to economics," Kneen said.
He points to the example of the Marathon palladium-copper project in northwestern Ontario, which its proponents currently value at more than $1.1 billion. The original owner submitted its environmental impact assessment back in 2012, then chose to pause the review process for six years amid slumping prices.
Revived in 2020, the mine got joint approval from the provincial and federal governments in November 2022. Construction has yet to begin.
Canadian mines take average 18 years to start production
The global average for a mine to go from discovery to production is 15.7 years, while in Canada it's 17.9 years, according to research by S & P Global Market Intelligence, the data and analysis division of the international financial services firm.
"The permitting process in Canada is often regarded as the cause of the longer lead times for new mines," says that research, published in June 2023. "There is a growing consensus among stakeholders that Canada needs to optimize the process to reduce the lead time of mines."
The study puts the average lead time for a mine in the U.S. to begin production at 13 years, Australia at 14.5 years and Spain at 15 years. It says the average timeline globally for an underground mine involves nearly 12 years of exploration and studies, 1.5 years to get the go-ahead for construction and 2.3 years to complete construction before production begins.
Lecce says the permitting process in Ontario typically takes four years, and he's promising a regulation to accompany the bill that will commit the government to making a decision within two years.
Lecce vows 'significant reduction' in permit timeline
"That is a significant reduction," Lecce said Wednesday. "It will be amongst the fastest permitting regimes in the industrialized democratic world. That is the gold standard. That's what we want to aspire to."
The new system will allow mining companies to get provincial approvals through what Lecce calls "one window" instead of the current system that requires applying to multiple ministries for approval of the same project.
The main industry group in the province, the Ontario Mining Association, declined a request for an interview on the legislation.
Mark Selby, chief executive of Canada Nickel, calls Bill 5 "a big step forward" for the mining industry in the province.
"We need a permitting process that respects Indigenous rights and the duty to consult, protects the environment, but we need to structure it in a way that's efficient and effective to get to a decision," Selby said in an interview.
He said regulations and the uncertain timelines for getting approvals have made it difficult for many mining companies to access the financing they need to get projects going.
"It is a bit of a chicken and egg situation," Selby said. "Investors know you're about to embark on a journey, that you don't know the endpoint, you don't know how long and expensive it is to get there. So they're going to be reticent to give you that initial dollar to start you down that path."
Some First Nations leaders are speaking out against Bill 5, saying the Ford government cannot use legislation to do whatever it wants to do in Indigenous territory.
The bill is also facing sharp criticism from environmental groups over concerns that it would weaken protection of endangered species.
This is not the first time the Ford government has brought forward legislation aimed at getting mines into production more quickly. In 2023, amendments to the Mining Act were passed to speed up permits for new mines to begin operations and make it easier for companies to get a permit to recover minerals from mine tailings and waste.
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