Canada could gain billions from refining more metals
Export Development Canada said a sustained shift into more sophisticated exports could add as much as $98 billion (US$70 billion) a year to Canada’s economy by 2035. The report argues that extracting more critical minerals will not deliver the largest economic payoff unless Canada keeps more processing, technology and manufacturing at home. It identified rare earths, graphite, lithium, copper and uranium as commodities with scope for more domestic value creation.
Why it matters: The report ties Canada's economic complexity decline to the critical-minerals theme, arguing that domestic processing capacity determines whether resource wealth translates into sustained growth.