Québec’s Critical Minerals Moment & Why It Matters Now
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PERSPECTIVES No.13 | January 29, 2026
Québec has long understood that the energy transition is not an abstract goal, but an industrial one. It requires resources, infrastructure, skilled labour and the political will to connect them. With the launch of the 2025–2031 Québec Strategy for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals, the province has taken a clear and confident step toward becoming a world leader in the materials that will power the global economy for decades to come.
The execution-focused plan builds on Québec’s deep mining tradition and growing base of processing and manufacturing know-how, and infrastructure advantages like clean, affordable electricity, and scales them to meet a rapidly changing global reality. At a time when supply chains are being reshaped and economic sovereignty is once again front of mind, Québec is choosing to develop its resources here, transform them here and ensure the benefits are felt in its regions.
The plan is also well-synced to Canada’s broader ambitions in critical minerals and as governments across the country are rethinking how trade alliances are built, how strategic materials are secured and how value is retained at home. Québec’s strategy demonstrates how those national objectives can be translated into concrete projects on the ground.
Building on the widely admired 2020–2025 plan, the new strategy signals a change of scale. Its objectives are to accelerate projects, strengthen mineral processing and recycling in Québec, deploy strategic infrastructure and logistics corridors, and deepen partnerships with host regions and communities, industry and international allies. Backed by an $88 million action plan, it asserts a clear ambition to make Québec an indispensable hub for critical and strategic minerals in North America and beyond. Critical and strategic minerals – A promising strategy to propel Québec among world leaders Gouvernement du Québec
For companies like Northern Graphite, this matters because it confirms a shared direction.
The province’s vision closely mirrors our own: a Québec that leverages its graphite resources all the way from upstream mining to downstream processing, creating durable economic value while supporting the energy transition.
A Natural Fit for Northern Graphite
Québec is home to Northern Graphite’s Lac des Iles mine, the only producing natural graphite mine in North America. For more than 30 years, Lac des Iles has supplied customers across a range of industrial applications, demonstrating that high-quality graphite can be produced responsibly, competitively and at scale in Québec.
But mining is only the beginning.
Our strategy, like Québec’s, is focused on building the full value chain. Our next chapter is about transforming graphite into battery anode material (BAM), a higher-value product that sits directly upstream of gigafactories and cell manufacturers.
That is why our plans to build a $2 billion project to transform a former pulp and paper complex into a large, multimodal graphite processing plant on the Côte-Nord, are so important.
Baie-Comeau offers a rare combination of attributes that align almost perfectly with the province’s strategy. It is a deepwater port with road, rail and shipping infrastructure already in place. It has access to abundant, affordable and clean hydroelectric power. And it sits at the head of what is, in effect, Québec’s emerging graphite corridor.
Northern’s Lac des Iles graphite mine is the line green round marker – #1. Between Ottawa and northern Québec lies a belt comprising an estimated 15 to 20 known graphite deposits (lime green markers). As these projects advance, that graphite will need to be processed, ideally in Québec, and Canada.
Between Ottawa and northern Québec lies a belt comprising an estimated 15 to 20 known graphite deposits, stretching hundreds of kilometres. As these projects advance, that graphite will need to be processed, not overseas, but here in Québec, and in Canada.
We believe Baie-Comeau can become the natural processing hub for that corridor.
Our vision for a battery anode material facility in Baie-Comeau is deliberately modular. Rather than overbuild ahead of demand, the plant would be constructed in stages, allowing capacity to grow in step with market needs from gigafactories in Canada, the United States and Europe.
At full scale, such a facility could produce up to 300,000 tonnes per year of battery anode material, supporting thousands of direct and indirect jobs and anchoring a new industrial ecosystem on the Côte-Nord. Working alongside our partners at The BMI Group, we see Baie-Comeau evolving into Canada’s critical minerals gateway to the world — a place where Québec’s resources meet global demand.
From Strategy to Execution
What is most encouraging about Québec’s new critical minerals strategy is that it recognizes a simple truth: leadership is earned through execution.
By focusing on infrastructure, permitting efficiency, value-added processing and partnership, Québec is creating the conditions for projects that are not only ambitious, but bankable.
Northern Graphite stands ready to play its part.
Hugues Jacquemin
Chief Executive Officer, Northern Graphite
Hugues Jacquemin is the CEO of Northern Graphite and has more than 30 years senior management experience growing Specialty Materials businesses for listed Fortune 500 & Private Equity firms.
Perspectives is researched, written and produced by Northern Graphite.
