Yahoo Finance To be an EV supply chain player, Canada needs regulatory certainty
Belgian metals refiner Umicore SA is set to build a $1.5-billion facility near Kingston, Ont.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the announcement of a new facility to produce electric vehicles components is part of Canada’s “big bet” on becoming a key player in the global EV supply chain.
According to Bloomberg NEF, Canada ranks fifth globally in terms of battery supply potential, behind China, the U.S., Germany, and Sweden.
Kevin Krausert is CEO and co-founder of Avatar Innovations, a Calgary-based venture capital firm and startup accelerator that pairs entrepreneurs with the biggest companies in Canada’s energy patch. He says the success of Canada’s ambitions will hinge on its ability to reassure investors with consistent regulations.
“Regulatory certainty. Investor certainty. That’s what Canada needs to be focused on like a laser right now,” he told Yahoo Finance Canada’s Editor’s Edition.
Got a question for Kevin Krausert? Email Jeff.Lagerquist@yahoofinance.com and let him know what interests you in the world of clean energy and technology.
Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.
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Video Transcript
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JEFF LAGERQUIST: When it comes to actually getting these minerals and things like that out of the ground and doing the work, do you expect Canada will rank in that top five when it comes to actual production?
KEVIN KRAUSERT: If we get started. And I think it's also the same issue around some of these big energy transition projects, is regulatory certainty, investor certainty. And that's what Canada needs to be focused on like a laser right now.
Yes, we've got some of the most pristine landscape in the world for rare earth minerals and a lot of these critical minerals that are going to be required to drive this energy transition. But we've got to run a lot harder and a lot faster to meet this opportunity. But I think we'll get there.
And I also think that, again, a lot of the expertise in the mining sector of pulling lithium out of petroleum brines presents a new opportunity for lithium production, E3 Metals in Alberta here has just partnered with Imperial Oil for lithium production. So I see this as an exciting technology race. But again, we're going to need investor certainty from the government. And we're going to need capital like we haven't seen it before.
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