The Ontario government has identified Canada Nickel Company’s Crawford Nickel Project under its One Project, One Process framework.

The province created the framework to better coordinate permitting and review processes for major mining developments by aligning timelines, responsibilities, and information sharing across provincial ministries – and ultimately to get large-scale mining projects built faster.

Located 42 kilometres north of Timmins, Crawford is one of the world’s largest nickel resources with a mineral reserve estimate of 1,715 million tonnes. The facility is expected to deliver high-quality nickel essential to the province’s electric vehicle batteries and green steel supply chains.

The project, which includes a nickel processing plant for stainless steel and electric vehicle markets and a stainless steel and alloy production facility, is expected to create up to 2,000 jobs during construction. Once complete, it will be one of the largest mine and mill facilities in North America with an expected mine life of 41 years that will support up to 1,300 direct jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs.

If constructed as fully proposed, the Crawford project will include: a single large open pit mine with two access zones, two ore processing plants, mining and processing infrastructure, the realignment of approximately 25 kilometres of Highway 655, the relocation of an existing 500-kilovolt transmission line, and two new electricity substations with an estimated demand and operating load of 230 kilovolts and 34.5 kilovolts.

The project is expected to attract a total of $5 billion in investment initially, while adding over $70 billion to Canada’s GDP and $67 billion to Ontario’s GDP alone, and providing a combined 185,000 person-years of employment. In addition to nickel, this project will be critical to securing a domestic supply of critical minerals, including cobalt and North America's only domestic source of chromium.

“Ontario’s One Project, One Process framework reflects a clear commitment to getting important projects done the right way – that means clear accountability, strong coordination across government, and a high standard of environmental and Indigenous engagement,” said Canadian Nickel Company CEO Mark Selby. “Crawford is a key part of Ontario’s emerging Critical Minerals Corridor in Northeastern Ontario, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the province to unlock the financing and permitting necessary to break ground and begin construction on the project by the end of this year.”

Through the One Project, One Process framework, the Ministry of Energy and Mines will act as a single point of contact to coordinate all necessary provincial approvals and Indigenous consultation to cut government review time in half. This will provide operators and investors the certainty and predictability needed to get new mines open faster and secure Ontario’s position as a global leader in responsible, fast-tracked mining development.

In November, the Crawford project was also named among the federal government’s Nation Building Projects, and has been referred to the Major Projects Office for review.