TORONTO — The province’s new regulation for criteria to designate Special Economic Zones is now in effect.
Informed by consultations with Indigenous communities and stakeholders across Ontario, the regulation “supports the advancement of job-creating investments and projects that are of strategic and critical importance to Ontario’s economic security,” states a release.
First introduced in response to U.S. tariffs, the Special Economic Zones Act, 2025 (SEZA) will allow designated projects within zones to launch and progress significantly faster.
Sectors such as critical minerals and mining fall into this category.
“Ontario’s critical minerals advantage will play a key role in growing the province’s strategic sectors, including defence, electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing, technology, aerospace and advanced manufacturing,” the release reads.
“Permitting and authorization processes for mining projects typically consist of overlapping approvals from multiple ministries and levels of government. This means it can take up to 15 years to open a mine in Ontario. The SEZA is designed to streamline these processes and expedite critical and strategically important projects necessary to protect the province’s economic and security interests.”
