Ottawa has pledged up to 1 billion Canadian dollars, about 712 million United States dollars, to help build roads into Ontario’s Ring of Fire, backing a long delayed route to undeveloped critical mineral deposits in the James Bay Lowlands, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. The three year commitment, announced on Wednesday by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, matches the province’s long standing billion dollar pledge.
The road network would connect remote First Nations and mineral deposits to Ontario’s highway system. The federal contribution addresses the barrier that has kept the region’s nickel, copper and chromite deposits beyond the reach of year round road transport. Developers such as privately held Wyloo, which is advancing the Eagle’s Nest nickel, copper and platinum group metals project, need that access to turn exploration sites into operating mines.
Ontario first committed up to 1 billion dollars for Ring of Fire infrastructure in its 2014 budget. The federal match arrives more than 12 years later. The road funding forms part of an 8.7 billion dollar federal and provincial package for Ontario’s steel, automotive and critical minerals industries, and the two governments also pledged closer coordination of permitting and said they would identify priority Ring of Fire projects eligible for other funding, tax credits and cost sharing.
Construction has already begun on parts of the corridor. Upgrades to the Anaconda and Painter Lake roads near Aroland First Nation started on June 30, covering 97 kilometres of forest roads, and Ottawa issued its environmental assessment decision for the 107 kilometre Webequie Supply Road in June, with legally binding conditions.
Jurisdiction watch: funding is no longer the constraint, consent is. Webequie and Marten Falls are proponents of road projects, while Neskantaga has opposed the wider industrial corridor and said it has not consented to the proposed Northern Road Link across its homelands. Wednesday’s package includes a new federal and provincial working group on First Nations engagement, and the joint release did not specify how the federal money divides among individual road projects or when payments begin.