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WCS Canada Comments: Fortifying Ontario's Economy

O'Connor, C.

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Key points

On April 17, 2026, the Government of Ontario posted a notice seeking feedback on a vision for updating Ontario’s Critical Minerals Strategy (2022) to build a "resilient, responsible, and competitive critical minerals system".

We note two major gaps in particular:

• The proposed vision ignores the environmental and indigenous rights implications of critical minerals development
• The vision rests on the false assumption that Ontario already maintains strong environmental protections, rigorous environmental oversight, and responsible mining governance.

Nearly two decades of piecemeal deregulation and administrative restructuring has compromised mining governance in Ontario. Our comments outline how the Province can establish a genuinely credible framework for responsible development.

Recommended citation

O'Connor, C. (2026). WCS Canada Comments: Fortifying Ontario's Economy. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada [WCS Canada]. https://wcscanada.org/resources/wcs-canada-comments-fortifying-ontarios-economy/