The Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo have selected St. Thomas in Ontario, Canada to establish Volkswagen’s first overseas gigafactory for cell manufacturing. The plant will produce sustainable unified cells, with start of production planned for 2027. The decision to expand the PowerCo cell production ramp-up from Europe to... Read more →

The Government of Canada will award more than $344 million in funding to suport five new critical minerals programs and initiatives. The five are: Critical Minerals Technology and Innovation Program. $144.4 million for the research, development, demonstration, commercialization and adoption of new technologies and processes that support sustainable growth in... Read more →

Canadaa-based Electra Battery Materials Corporation announced an updated mineral resource estimate (2023 MRE) for its Iron Creek Cobalt-Copper Project located in the Idaho Cobalt Belt, a 34-mile-long formation containing some of the largest primary cobalt deposits in North America, that paves the way for additional exploration activities and development of... Read more →

Purolator, Canada’s leading integrated freight, package and logistics solutions provider, expects to invest approximately $1 billion to electrify its Canadian network over the next seven years. This includes a plan to purchase more than 3,500 fully electric last-mile delivery vehicles and the electrification of more than 60 terminals across Canada.... Read more →

Australia-based Green Technology Metals Limited (GT1), a Canadian-focused multi-asset lithium business, signed a binding option agreement to purchase an 80% interest in the Junior Lake Project from Landore Resources Canada, which comprises 591 staked mineral claims on 10,856 Hectares (109km2) of tenure located adjacent to the Flagship Seymour Project (Seymour)... Read more →

The Government of Canada will refuse to permit seabed mining absent a rigorous regulatory regime. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, and Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, released a statement confirming Canada’s position: Canada does not currently have a domestic legal framework that would... Read more →

The Government of Canada announced federal investments totalling nearly $15 million (US$11.2 million) for the installation of more than 2,350 EV chargers, 2,100 of which will be installed across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This funding was provided to 32 organizations, including municipalities, multi-resident buildings (MURBs), private firms and utilities.... Read more →

Canada-based Volt Carbon Technologies has announced the acquisition by staking of a 100% owned Abamasagi Lake Lithium Project, located northwest of Nakina, Ontario, Canada. The mining claims were registered directly by Volt Carbon. The staking was completed following a detailed review of several publicly available Ontario Government geological databases and... Read more →

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Ontario Power Generation (OPG), SNC-Lavalin and Aecon have signed a contract for the deployment of a BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at OPG’s Darlington New Nuclear Project site. This is the first commercial contract for a grid-scale SMR in North America. The BWRX-300 is a... Read more →

ExxonMobil’s majority-owned affiliate Imperial Oil will invest about $720 million (US$560 million) to move forward with construction of the largest renewable diesel facility in the country. (Earlier post.) The project at Imperial’s Strathcona refinery near Edmonton is expected to produce more than one billion liters of renewable diesel annually—about 20,000... Read more →

Graphex Technologies LLC, the US subsidiary of Graphex Group Limited, and Northern Graphite Corporation announced that Graphex will participate in Northern’s previously announced selection process for a site suitable for the construction of a large-scale graphite processing facility in Baie-Comeau, approximately 420 km north-east of Québec City. The plant is... Read more →

NFI Group subsidiary New Flyer Industries Canada ULC has received new firm orders for 16 battery-electric and fuel cell-electric transit buses from Winnipeg Transit. The contract also has options to be extended for up to four years to purchase up to 150 40-foot zero-emission buses (ZEBs). In total, NFI will... Read more →

The Government of Canada on Friday released its Critical Minerals Strategy , backed by up to $3.8 billion in federal funding allocated in Budget 2022. (Earlier post.) The proposed funding covers a range of industrial activities, from geoscience and exploration to mineral processing, manufacturing and recycling applications, including support for... Read more →

General Motors has opened Canada’s first full-scale electric-vehicle manufacturing plant in Ontario. With investment support from both the Canadian and Ontario governments, GM has completely retooled the CAMI Assembly plant as the new global manufacturing home of BrightDrop’s fully electric delivery vans. BrightDrop also announced the commencement of commercial operations... Read more →

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume and the Canadian Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, signed an Addendum to the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of August this year (earlier post) to identify suitable sites for a cell factory in Canada. The two parties will continue their cooperation in the... Read more →

The Canadian federal and provincial governments will award approximately $475 million (CAD) (US$357 million) in project funding for Air Products’ multi-billion-dollar landmark net-zero blue hydrogen energy complex in Alberta. (Earlier post.) The facility, already being executed, will make Edmonton, Alberta the center of western Canada’s hydrogen economy and set the... Read more →

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, and General Fusion have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to pursue a series of joint projects to accelerate the deployment of commercial fusion power in Canada. Fusion energy holds great potential as a clean and reliable form of... Read more →

The Government of Canada has ordered three Chinese companies to divest from three Canadian critical mineral companies: Power Metals, Lithium Chile, and Ultra Lithium. (Earlier post.) Ultra Lithium has now issued a statement noting that the company has been advised that Zangge Mining Investment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd. (Zangge) received the... Read more →

The Government of Canada has ordered the divestiture of the following investments by three Chinese companies in Canadian critical mineral companies: Sinomine (Hong Kong) Rare Metals Resources Co., Limited is required to divest itself of its investment in Power Metals Corp. Power Metals Corp is a Canadaian mining company exploring... Read more →

To support the expansion of electric transportation in Québec, the Electric Circuit is a{launching} a pilot project on heavy- and medium-duty vehicle charging. The initiative includes the installation of dedicated stations for safe charging that consider turning radius and trailer length. With the number of electric trucks on the roads... Read more →

Canada-based Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG) and Panasonic Energy entered into a Framework Agreement establishing the terms of the commercial relationship between the parties to enable the next development steps of NMG’s ore-to-battery-market integrated graphite project in Québec, Canada. The strategic transaction comprises a non-binding memorandum of understanding on an... Read more →

Rio Tinto is partnering with the Government of Canada to invest up to C$737 million (US$537 million) over the next eight years to decarbonize its Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) operations in Sorel-Tracy, Québec, and to position the business as a center of excellence for critical minerals processing. The... Read more →

Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a service agreement with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to bring its eVinci microreactor closer to commercialization. The agreement initiates a Vendor Design Review (VDR) which is a pre-licensing technical assessment of the eVinci small modular reactor design. Westinghouse will execute both Phases 1 and... Read more →

LG Energy Solution (LGES) signed separate partnership agreements with three major critical mineral suppliers in Canada. The latest arrangements to secure lithium and cobalt from Snow Lake Resources Ltd., Electra Battery Materials Corporation and Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. are in line with LG Energy Solution’s strategic vision to reinforce its... Read more →

Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) and the Government of Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote e-mobility in the country and to explore opportunities across Canada’s automotive and battery supply chain. Both parties will investigate opportunities for Canada to contribute to Volkswagen’s global and regional battery supply chains. PowerCo,... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz Group AG and the Government of Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation and to explore ways to advance opportunities across Canada’s electric vehicle supply chain, including, but not limited to, securing sustainable sources of raw materials. As part of Mercedes-Benz’s Ambition2039, the focus is on... Read more →

Umicore plans to construct a manufacturing facility for cathode active battery materials (CAM) and their precursor materials (pCAM) in Ontario, Canada. For Umicore this investment represents the final step in establishing a global production presence with battery material value chains that are regionally fully integrated to support its customers in... Read more →

Rio Tinto is investing US$188 million to increase the production capacity for low-carbon, high value aluminum billets at its Alma smelter in Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec by 202,000 metric tonnes. The Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean region in Canada is an important hub for Rio Tinto’s aluminum business, responsible for close to half of... Read more →

Canada-based Moment Energy, a start-up created by four Simon Fraser University alumni, has established a supply agreement with Mercedes-Benz Energy (MBE) for second-life electric vehicle batteries. This marks the first agreement Mercedes-Benz Energy has signed with a North American second-life energy storage system (ESS) provider. Together with Moment Energy we... Read more →

A partnership between FortisBC Energy Inc., Suncor Energy and Australia-based Hazer Group Limited will use Hazer’s innovative methane pyrolysis technology for the first time in North America to produce hydrogen from natural gas. The project, located at Suncor’s Burrard Terminal site, will produce hydrogen while storing the carbon byproduct as... Read more →

Canada will publish the final Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) in the Canada Gazette Part II on 6 July 2022. The CFR set increasingly stringent requirements on producers and importers to reduce the carbon intensity of gasoline and diesel. Once fully implemented, the CFR will help cut up to 26.6 million... Read more →

Imperial Oil Limited—Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer—and E3 Lithium are collaborating to advance a direct-lithium-extraction pilot in Alberta, exploring the redevelopment of an historic oil field into a potential new leading source of lithium for Canada’s... Read more →

Canada Post has earmarked $1 billion to cut emissions and transform its fleet. With nearly 14,000 vehicles and Canada’s largest retail network of close to 6,000 post offices, Canada Post acknowledges its footprint is significant. The Corporation will transform its fleet to non-emitting transportation, with commitments to reach a 50%... Read more →

bp has agreed to sell its 50% interest in the Sunrise oil sands project in Alberta, Canada, to Calgary-based Cenovus Energy, the other owner of the Sunrise project. As part of the deal, bp is acquiring Cenovus’s interest in the Bay du Nord project in Eastern Canada, adding to its... Read more →

Cresta Funds Management (Cresta) has chosen Topsoe’s HydroFlex solution for revamping the Braya Renewable Fuels refinery (Braya) in Newfoundland, Canada. The refinery will produce up to 18,000 barrels per day of Renewable Diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) initially; the capacity will increase further in various stages of expansion. The... Read more →

BC Transit in British Columbia, Canada has approved a $20-million contract to purchase ten 40-foot Proterra ZX5 electric transit buses and one Proterra Energy megawatt-scale EV fleet charger as part of the agency’s transition to a fully electric bus fleet. The contract includes the option for BC Transit to acquire... Read more →

Parkland, an independent supplier and marketer of fuel and petroleum products and a leading convenience store operator, plans to increase renewable fuel production at its Burnaby Refinery in British Columbia. The company said it will expanding existing co-processing volumes to approximately 5,500 barrels per day, and build a stand-alone renewable... Read more →

Canada-based Northern Graphite Corporation has closed its previously announced acquisition of the producing Lac des Iles graphite mine (LDI) in Québec from a subsidiary of Imerys SA and the Okanjande graphite deposit/Okorusu processing plant in Namibia from a subsidiary of Imerys and its joint venture partner. All deposits have high... Read more →

Livent Corporation agreed to double its ownership interest (earlier post) to 50% in Nemaska Lithium, a fully integrated lithium hydroxide development project located in Québec, Canada. Livent will issue 17,500,000 shares of its common stock to The Pallinghurst Group and its investors to acquire their half of Québec Lithium Partners... Read more →

Stellantis plans to invest $3.6 billion CAD ($2.8 billion USD) to secure the future of its Windsor and Brampton (Ontario) Assembly Plants and to expand its Automotive Research and Development Center (ARDC) to accelerate the company’s move to a sustainable future. This announcement also supports the company’s Dare Forward 2030... Read more →

In 2021, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) launched a call for proposals to support R&D; projects for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) manufacturing, systems, components, and batteries in Canada. NGen has now announced $76 million in funding for 15 new industry-led consortia that will execute projects in strategic areas such as critical... Read more →

Refuel Energy Inc. is planning to build a 3,000 barrels per day (bpd) renewable fuel plant (Refuel YYZ) in Southern Ontario. Refuel YYZ will produce renewable diesel (RD), sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and renewable hydrogen for the domestic market. The proposed facility would supply the aviation and terrestrial fuel needs... Read more →

The Canadian province of British Columbia is establishing an office to expand hydrogen deployment rapidly and to streamline projects from proposal to construction. The BC Hydrogen Office will work with federal and local governments to help attract investments and simplify the multi-jurisdictional review and permitting processes. There are already 40... Read more →

The Government of Canada has released Budget 2022. Among its measures is up to C$3.8 billion (US$3 billion) to implement Canada’s first Critical Minerals Strategy to capitalize on a growing need for the minerals used in everything from phones to electric cars. The Budget also allocates more than $3 billion... Read more →

Suncor Energy, a Canadian integrated energy company that is one of the top oil sands producers in the country, will strengthen its focus on hydrogen and renewable fuels to accelerate progress towards its objective to be a net-zero company by 2050. Suncor also plans to divest its wind and solar... Read more →

By the middle of this decade greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Canadian oil sands production should be in decline even as production continues to grow, according to a new comprehensive report by S&P; Global Commodity Insights that takes into account current technology trends and production growth. Entitled The Trajectory of... Read more →

Stellantis N.V. and LG Energy Solution (LGES) have executed binding, definitive agreements to establish the first large-scale, domestic, electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Canada. The resulting joint venture company will produce lithium-ion battery cells and modules to meet a significant portion of Stellantis’ vehicle production requirements in North America. The... Read more →

BASF signed an agreement to secure land for its future cathode active materials (CAM) and recycling site in Bécancour, Québec, Canada, as part of its commitment to support North American producers in their transition to e-mobility. A regional supply chain is critical to ensure reliable and resilient battery materials supply.... Read more →

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster announced its largest project to date, the $65-million Clean Ocean Advanced Biofuels Project. In the project, Ontario-based Valent Low Carbon Technologies will work with a pan-Canadian team to produce Canada’s first renewable diesel from abundantly available agricultural and forestry by-products. A major ocean industry challenge is the... Read more →

The Lion Electric Company, a manufacturer of all-electric medium- and heavy-duty urban vehicles, received a purchase order from Groupe Autocar Jeannois for 35 zero-emission LionC school buses, to be delivered over the next five years. The purchase order also includes an option for Jeannois to purchase an additional five LionC... Read more →