LAPPE — Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, announced $10 million in new funding for the Ontario Junior Exploration Program to accelerate early-stage mineral exploration and unlock the province’s “vast reserves” of critical minerals.
“Resource security is now national security,” said Lecce, emphasizing the growing strategic importance of critical minerals for global supply chains and clean energy technologies at the funding announcement just outside Thunder Bay on Thursday.
The announcement follows the recent passage of Bill 5. The Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act includes measures aimed at fast-tracking development across several sectors, including mining.
However, the legislation has drawn criticism from Indigenous leaders, environmental advocates, and civil society groups. Opponents argue that the legislation weakens environmental protections and consultation requirements, particularly in areas near or on Indigenous territories.
The provincial government says that these measures are essential to unlocking the "vast reserves found in the Ring of Fire", a mineral-rich area nearly 5,000 square kilometres in size, located about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, according to a press release from the ministry.
The 2025 expansion of the junior mining program introduces a new prospector stream, allowing licensed Ontario prospectors to apply for up to $50,000 per project, with an additional $15,000 in funding for Indigenous participation support, for a maximum of $65,000 in funding available per project.
The government also increased its Indigenous participation funding, which supports Indigenous employment and business involvement, from $10,000 to $15,000.
Last November, the ministry said it had invested $35 million into the program over the previous four years. The new funding brings that total to $45 million.
This ministry said this investment will also support Ontario’s critical minerals strategy. Of the total $45 million, $12 million was allocated to the discovery and development of critical minerals.
To date, 80 junior mining companies received funding, 68 of which focused on critical mineral projects.
The current round of funding is open for applications from July 3 to July 31, 2025.
