Critical Minerals Investment Between Canada and the Indo-Pacific Region: Trends and Opportunities in the Extractive Sector

Anastasia Ufimtseva, Rachael Gurney, Kana Minju Bak, Xuemeng Wang

August 13, 2025

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Critical Minerals Investment Between Canada and the Indo-Pacific Region: Trends and Opportunities in the Extractive Sector

Anastasia Ufimtseva, Rachael Gurney, Kana Minju Bak, Xuemeng Wang

August 13, 2025

Download the full report

This report explores the surge in two-way foreign direct investment (FDI) in the critical minerals extractive sector between Canada and the Indo-Pacific between 2020 and 2024 and highlights a significant increase from the previous five-year period. The growth underscores Canada’s rising strategic importance as a supplier of critical minerals essential for agriculture and to the global energy transition.

Relying on the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s Investment Monitor database, this report demonstrates that Canada’s critical minerals sector, particularly its upstream extraction activities, has become an important destination for investors from the Indo-Pacific seeking secure, long-term access to key resources. This is expected to shape regional supply chains and influence Canada’s resource diplomacy in the years ahead.

Overall, the report identifies the following investment trends:

Total two-way investment flows between Canada and the Indo-Pacific in the critical mineral extractive sector rose sharply, from C$5.3B in 2015–2019 to C$27.2B in 2020–2024.

During this period, inward FDI in critical minerals increased significantly — from C$4.7B to C$27.1B — while outward FDI declined from C$586M to just C$112M.

Between 2020 and 2024, two-way FDI flows in the critical minerals extractive sector accounted for 16% of total Canada–Indo-Pacific FDI, representing a significant increase from the previous five-year period (2015-2019), when investment in this sector made up just 3% of total flows.

Between 2020 and 2024, inward FDI in critical minerals from the Indo-Pacific accounted for 30% of Canada’s total inward FDI, while outward FDI in the sector made up just 0.1% of Canada’s total FDI in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia and China represented the top partners for Canada’s critical minerals two-way FDI between 2020 to 2024.

Australia accounted for 85% (C$23B) of inward FDI from the Indo-Pacific in Canada’s critical mineral sector and received 64% (C$71M) of Canada’s critical minerals investment in the region. China accounted for close to 14.7% (nearly C$4B) of Indo-Pacific investment in Canada’s critical minerals and received around 17% (C$18.6M) of Canada’s capital flows into critical minerals in the region.

Between 2020 and 2024, inward FDI in Canada’s critical minerals sector from the Indo-Pacific was largely driven by non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), which accounted for 85% (C$23.1B) of total investment. In contrast, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) contributed just 15% (C$3.95B).

While investment from SOEs remained relatively stable in value compared to the previous five-year period (C$3.8B), its share declined significantly from 72% of total investment during that time.

Around 99% of FDI into Canada’s critical minerals sector from the Indo-Pacific region was concentrated in four provinces: Saskatchewan (56%), Quebec (21%), British Columbia (14.5%), and Ontario (7.5%).

Saskatchewan received FDI predominantly in potash, while Quebec attracted investment mainly in copper and lithium, British Columbia in copper and uranium, and Ontario in lithium and copper.

Anastasia Ufimtseva

Anastasia Ufimtseva is a Senior Program Manager, International Trade & Investment, at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She holds a PhD in Global Governance from the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University with a specialization in international political economy. Her dissertation examined Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Canadian and Russian oil and natural gas sectors and she has published widely on trade and investment relations between Asia and Canada, specifically on FDI, governance, and energy policy. Prior to joining APF Canada, Anastasia worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Jack Austin Centre for Asia Pacific Business Studies at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business.

Anastasia Ufimtseva's latest posts:

Powering the Future: Quebec's Critical Mineral Strategy and Asia Pacific Collaboration Amid Shifting U.S. Policy CPTPP Mini-Report: AUSTRALIA CPTPP Policy Forum on Inclusive Trade: Event Highlights Read more >

Rachael Gurney

Rachael Gurney is a Senior Project Specialist, International Trade and Investment, at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She has a M.A. in Political Science and Contemporary East Asian and Southeast Asian studies from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia. Her master’s research focused on resource nationalism in Indonesia’s critical mineral mining policies. Her research interests concern natural resource policy, foreign direct investment, and free trade.

Rachael Gurney's latest posts:

CPTPP Mini-Report: MALAYSIA International Trade & Investment Report: The Impact of the CPTPP on Trade Between Canada and the Asia Pacific Investment Monitor: Canadian Pension Fund Investments in the Asia Pacific: Balancing Diversification and Growth Against Geopolitical Tensions Read more >

Kana Minju Bak

Kana Bak recently graduated with a master’s degree in international business from Sciences Po Paris. With experience in investment management and sustainability consulting across the EU as well as building business partnerships and research networks in South Korea and Singapore, Kana is dedicated to understanding and influencing diverse markets and geopolitical landscapes. She is particularly fascinated by minilateralism and the interdependencies of foreign capital flows with public policy.

Kana Minju Bak's latest posts:

CPTPP Mini-Report: NEW ZEALAND CPTPP Mini-Report: SINGAPORE CPTPP Policy Forum on Inclusive Trade: Event Highlights

Xuemeng Wang

Xuemeng Wang is a Research Scholar with the International Trade and Investment team at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She completed her Master’s in International Studies from Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on socio-economic development, tackling associated challenges, and promoting social equality and sustainable development practices.