Ottawa (April 19, 2021) — The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) welcomes measures in the Federal Government’s 2021 Budget that aim to bolster Canada’s mineral exploration and development sector competitiveness and regain its global leadership position.
The 2021 Budget recommits to extending timelines for Flow Through Share funds raised in 2019 and 2020, in line with PDAC’s recommendation. The government’s proposed legislation will ensure mineral exploration companies with operations impacted by COVID-19 can avoid penalties that would normally come from not meeting original flow-through share timelines.
PDAC is also encouraged by some of the other industry-related commitments in Budget 2021 including:
- $9.6M over three years to create a Critical Battery Minerals Centre of Excellence at Natural Resources Canada; $36.8 million over three years to Natural Resources Canada, for federal research and development to advance critical battery mineral processing and refining expertise;
- Infrastructure commitments of $1B increase to Broadband fund, $1.9B reinvest in Trade corridors, $6B for Indigenous infrastructure, Northern roads and alternative energy; and
- $5 Billion over seven years, starting in 2021-22, in the Net Zero Accelerator
PDAC now looks forward to working collaboratively with the Federal Government on these initiatives.