What we’re watching for: “a robust industrial policy”

In the early part of this year, we’re looking forward to seeing whether and how Canada adopts an industrial policy approach to catalysing growth across the ZEV supply chain. In her Fall Economic Statement, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, indicated that, in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government would employ “a real, robust industrial policy” to facilitate the transition to a net-zero economy.

In my conversation with Research Director at the Transition Accelerator and Senior Advisor to Accelerate, Bentley Allan, we discuss what effective 21st-century industrial policy means, what good options for Canada might look like and how this could impact the ZEV supply chain.
The first major opportunity for the government to signal a robust ZEV industrial policy will be in Budget 2023, expected in the coming weeks.

We saw in last year’s federal budget an important focus on critical minerals with the commitment of $3.8 Billion and the subsequent release of a Critical Minerals Strategy. In recent months, attracting and developing battery materials and manufacturing capacity has been a particular focal point. We will be watching closely to see if this year’s federal budget brings a similar effort to Canada’s battery ecosystem as we saw last year on minerals.

To help inform the development of these segments of the supply chain, Accelerate hosts the Canadian Battery Task Force and recently launched a Critical Minerals and Materials Task Force. These working groups of members and expert stakeholders, including government officials, are tasked with thinking through smart, effective actions that will stimulate more investment and support government activity to date. We also look forward to launching our Manufacturing and Assembly Task Force this winter, which will examine how to best position Canada’s downstream manufacturers through the transition to zero-emission mobility.