Ontario fast-tracks permitting for Canada Nickel’s Crawford mine
Ontario has designated Canada Nickel’s Crawford project for regulatory streamlining. The company aims to start construction this year but still faces a multibillion-dollar funding gap.
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By Torontoer Staff
Ontario has designated Canada Nickel Co.’s Crawford nickel project, north of Timmins, under its One Project, One Process regulatory initiative. The designation centralises provincial permitting for the project, which Canada Nickel says it hopes to put into construction before year-end with target production by the end of 2028.
Provincial officials described the move as part of a strategy to bolster Canada’s access to critical minerals and reduce reliance on high-volume nickel producers abroad. The company will still need to firm up substantial financing before major works can begin.
What the fast-track designation does
Under One Project, One Process, Canada Nickel will work with a single provincial representative who manages all provincial permits related to Crawford. The change is aimed at simplifying internal coordination, lowering the risk that regulatory steps will be missed, and making the process more predictable for the company.
This basically will ensure that things don’t get off track.
Mark Selby, CEO, Canada Nickel
Company executives say the designation may not dramatically shorten the overall timeline, but it should reduce administrative delays and make compliance tracking easier during the pre-construction and permitting phases.
Funding and timeline
Crawford’s capital cost is estimated at US$2-billion to US$2.5-billion. Canada Nickel currently has a number of conditional financing elements in place, but significant gaps remain before construction can proceed at scale.
- US$500 million in conditional debt from Export Development Canada
- US$500 million from another unnamed federal financing agency, described as tentative
- About US$600 million in expected tax credits tied to critical minerals and carbon capture programs
- Samsung SDI holds an option to buy 10 per cent of the project for US$100 million
Even if the provisional support is finalised, the company estimates it still needs roughly US$300 million in additional equity. Canada Nickel is considering selling 10 to 20 per cent of the project to a third party, which could raise up to about US$200 million.
There’s a lot of work between now and year-end.
Mark Selby, CEO, Canada Nickel
Selby said some funding assistance could come through the federal Major Projects Office, which has already designated Crawford as a project of national interest. The company also plans a nickel-processing plant in Timmins to capture more value locally.
Strategic importance and market context
Crawford hosts one of the world’s largest nickel reserves, material that is increasingly important for electric-vehicle batteries and specialty steel. Provincial politicians emphasised the project’s role in securing domestic supply chains for critical minerals amid uncertainty in global trade and resource competition.
But he’s not going to be able to take our nickel out of the ground. Not a bloody chance. Not a bloody chance.
George Pirie, Ontario Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth
Canada produced about 190,000 tonnes of nickel in 2024, compared with around 8,000 tonnes in the United States and roughly 2.2 million tonnes in Indonesia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Politicians and industry leaders say there is demand in Europe and North America for nickel produced under higher environmental standards, which they argue can favour Canadian supply.
Where Crawford fits in provincial and federal plans
Crawford is the second project to receive the provincial One Project, One Process designation. Frontier Lithium’s PAK project was the first. The provincial framework complements a federal effort to streamline major projects deemed critical to national interests, with both levels of government presenting the move as a way to reduce regulatory duplication.
Officials have framed processing and value-added operations in Northern Ontario as priorities for regional economic development. Canada Nickel’s plan to build a processing facility in Timmins is consistent with that objective and with broader efforts to keep more of the mineral value chain in Canada.
Next steps
The immediate next steps for Canada Nickel are to finalise conditional financing, complete remaining permitting tasks under the single-point provincial process, and advance detailed engineering ahead of a planned construction start before year-end. Community consultations, environmental assessments and financing milestones will shape whether the company meets its production target of late 2028.
The designation reduces one regulatory uncertainty for Crawford, but the project’s progress will depend on securing the remaining capital and meeting provincial and federal environmental and Indigenous consultation requirements.
miningnickelOntarioCanada NickelTimmins
