OTTAWA — As Canada and the European Union pursue a deeper economic and security alliance, including greater cooperation on critical minerals, Clean Energy Canada experts are available to comment on the scale of the opportunity and what it will take to turn closer ties into investment and trade.
Clean Energy Canada’s recent report, A Critical Moment, explores the Canada–EU critical minerals opportunity. The report finds that Canada is second only to Norway among the EU’s current suppliers in meeting its preferred trade and ESG requirements, while also being home to significant reserves of many of the critical minerals required for the energy transition. But despite that strong position, Canada–EU trade in six key critical minerals has barely changed in recent years, with the exception of raw nickel.
The European Union also recently updated its electrification strategy with a goal to make it the first “electro-powered” continent. As Canada pursues its own goals to double its electricity grid by 2035, there are opportunities to boost domestic energy security and affordability by aligning markets and approaches to benefit both countries. For example, our 2025 report, Missing Out, recommended alignment of safety and environmental standards for passenger vehicles with the EU to increase access to affordable models for Canadians and streamline the two markets for automakers.
With demand for Canada’s critical minerals set to grow rapidly as EVs, batteries, renewables, and other clean technologies scale up, the report argues Canada should move beyond MOUs with European partners toward actual investments, offtake agreements and joint financing, while building out more refined and processed value chains at home.
The following Clean Energy Canada staff are available for interviews on the subject:
- Rachel Doran, executive director of Clean Energy Canada
- Joanna Kyriazis, director of policy and strategy at Clean Energy Canada
- Evan Pivnick, associate director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada
Read the reports: A Critical Moment and Missing Out
