Nearly half of Canada's provinces and territories are asking Ottawa to deliver on an election promise to expand a mining exploration tax credit. They are calling on the federal Liberals to fulfil the commitment, which the Liberals made during the campaign.
Who is asking
Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon have all written letters in support of the campaign. Together, that is nearly half of the country's provinces and territories.
In B.C., Mining Minister Jagrup Brar wrote that major mining projects across the province continue to face financing challenges in the late stages of permitting.
What the credit change would do
The Association of Mineral Exploration has asked Finance Minister Champagne to expand Canadian Exploration Expense (CEE) eligibility to cover project-advancement work.
The request lines up with what the Liberals pledged. Their Canada Strong platform said the party would expand eligible activities under CEE to include the costs of technical studies.
Pierre Hebert of the Nunavut and N.W.T. Chamber of Mines put the industry's argument plainly: "You need more than a drilling program to demonstrate project viability."
The numbers behind the campaign
The push is backed by an Ernst & Young report. It found 2,052 projects in Canada are currently in their early stages.
The report estimates that expanding the credits could generate 14,000 to 34,000 jobs over 10 years. It also projects $68 billion in GDP over the next 10 years from increased mining spending.
Those are the report's estimates, not outcomes the government has committed to.
What the federal government says
Finance Minister Champagne's spokesperson, John Fragos, pointed to what the government has already done for the sector. "This adds to the myriad other measures and billions more in supports the government has invested in the mining sector," Fragos said of the credit expansion.
The response frames the credit expansion as one more step in a longer list of supports, rather than a response to the provinces' letters.
What is not yet known
The facts available do not say when the credit expansion would take effect, what it would cost the federal treasury, or whether the government has set a date to act on it. Those details have not been announced.
We will update this story if they do.
Sources: Global News (Canadian Press), Canadian Mining Journal
