A Very Brief History of One of Canada’s Largest Industries

By Amelia Kondor

Mining is one of Canada’s largest industries. In 2022, mineral and metal exports accounted for over twenty percent of Canada’s total merchandise exports, making up a total of 153 billion dollars (“Mineral Trade”). Mining is so important for our country that “In March 2021, the Government of Canada released its list of 31 critical minerals that are considered vital for the sustainable economic success of Canada and its allies” (“Mineral Trade”). These minerals can be found all over Canada, as shown by this interactive map. These minerals only scratch the surface when it comes to what Canada mines, as shown by this second interactive map. Canada is also directly responsible for many mines in other countries, so even these seemingly comprehensive maps don’t tell the full story of mining in Canada. The story of mining in Canada is also a difficult one to interpret, as trying to learn about mining leads to rabbit holes of statistics and infographics that are nearly impossible to interpret without a lot of background knowledge on mining and trading in Canada.

Mining in Canada started long before it became a country. Assorted metals like copper and silver were used in various Indigenous communities pre-colonization. One of the earliest attempts at mining by a colonizer was in 1577 by Martin Frobisher, on Baffin island, but the “large-scale industrial exploitation of mineral resources in Canada commenced at the St. Maurice Forges in Québec” (Keeling). Large gold rushes in BC in the 1800s led to the province that we know today. Canada is a global leader in the production of several commodities, but this doesn’t come without a cost.

According to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), “Canada has more mine tailings spills than most other countries in the world” (Lavoie). Tailings are the liquid byproduct of removing wanted minerals from rock, are usually harmful to the environment, and are usually stored in large dams. These dams can sometimes rupture and spill, leading to large environmental disasters called tailings spills. These spills can have devastating impacts on communities, and “it is estimated that, [between 2008 and 2017], mining waste failures … killed more than 340 people, damaged hundreds of kilometres of waterways, affected drinking water sources, wiped out fish populations, destroyed heritage sites and monuments and jeopardized the livelihoods of many communities” (Lavoie). And these environmental impacts are even worse than we can see, as Canadian-owned mines operate in many other countries, so the impacts of mining are harder to see.

But of course, mining is necessary to move towards a green future. The government of Canada’s website focuses more on this than on the environmental failures, recognizing the “rising global demand for critical minerals and materials that will power the clean energy transition” (“Minerals and the economy”). Minerals that are difficult to obtain, and create a lot of waste, like Rare Earth Elements, are necessary to make things like batteries for electric vehicles.

This is not the end of the story. Mining is constantly shifting and evolving, and there are ideas being presented constantly, from mining the bottom of the sea, to space. This article is a very brief summary of an incredibly complicated subject designed to give a basic understanding of Canada’s mining industry, as it is often hard to understand the academic and complex language usually used when talking about mining.

Works Cited

Keeling, Arn and John Sandlos. “Mining.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 07 Apr. 2009, edited 04 Mar. 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mining. Accessed 06 Jan 2023.

Lavoie, Judith. “Canada Has Second-Worst Mining Record in World: UN.” The Narwhal, 27 Oct. 2017, thenarwhal.ca/canada-has-second-worst-mining-record-world-un/. Accessed 06 Jan 2023.

“Mineral Trade.” Canada.ca, Government of Canada. Sep. 2023, natural-resources.canada.ca/maps-tools-and-publications/publications/minerals-mining-publications/mineral-trade/19310. Accessed 06 Jan 2023.

“Minerals and the economy.” Canada.ca, Government of Canada. 29 May 2023, natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-and-analysis/minerals-and-the-economy/20529. Accessed 06 Jan 2023.