Canada and United States Advance Collaboration on Critical Minerals

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O'Regan, today released the following statement after the 2^nd Bi-lateral Critical Minerals Working Group videoconference meeting.

"Today, Shawn Tupper, Associate Deputy Minister for Natural Resources Canada and Cynthia Kierscht, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs participated in a virtual meeting and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening Canada-U.S. supply chain for critical minerals-essential to both countries' security and economic growth.

"Canada and the U.S. discussed the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic on the mining sector and explored opportunities to collaborate on securing access to the critical minerals needed for key manufacturing sectors such as communication technology, aerospace, defence and clean technology.

"These efforts build on a commitment last June by the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the U.S. to develop reliable, integrated North American supply chains for critical minerals. The Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration was finalized on January 9, 2020.

"Both of our economies are better off when we work together. By advancing this Joint Action Plan, we are joining forces to secure access to the critical minerals - including uranium, rare earth elements and those needed for next generation batteries - that can play a key role in our economic recovery post COVID-19. These efforts will not only boost our competiveness in global markets and create jobs for Canadians; they will also help to develop cleaner technologies to reach our net-zero targets.

"The Government of Canada remains committed to attracting investment into Canadian exploration and mining projects and positioning itself as a reliable-and sustainable-supplier of choice for critical minerals."