“This makes sure that Canada will be part of a larger ecosystem of electric vehicles in North America,” Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a phone interview late Friday. “The world starts to understand that it doesn’t make sense to mine minerals in Africa and refine them in China and then to produce them with coal when it comes to batteries.”
Canada has been positioning itself to be one of the key suppliers of green aluminum and steel, Champagne said, and it’s now turning its focus to battery components. The country hopes to capitalize on its supply of critical minerals needed for electric vehicles — including nickel, lithium and graphite — to attract investors.
The auto industry accounts for 10% of Canada’s manufacturing output and supports half a million workers, so a transition from the production of traditional combustion engines to electric and green vehicles is a pressing issue for the…
