Stream 1: Pre-construction and project development
This stream supports pre-construction activities necessary to advance clean energy and transportation infrastructure projects towards a shovel-ready state. Funding for this stream will be targeted to advance infrastructure-specific consultation and engagement with local stakeholders and Indigenous communities and organizations, energy modeling and feasibility studies, engineering, planning and design work, and climate change/environmental reviews or assessments. These activities will support regulatory and permitting decisions required prior to the procurement and construction stage.
Funding timeline
CMIF is looking for projects that will have a timely impact. Time-to-impact will be considered as part of the overall project assessment and the CMIF may prioritize projects that can begin executing activities and incurring related expenses in fiscal year 2024-25 (April 1 to March 31).
All CMIF-funded projects must end no later than March 31, 2030. A project could be scoped to include a single phase of a larger, multi-phase infrastructure development initiative.
Eligible projects
The CMIF will offer contribution funding for clean energy and transportation infrastructure projects, focusing on the upstream, mining segment of critical minerals value chains.
Clean energy infrastructure projects, under the program, are those that drive environmental performance while supporting critical minerals development by increasing access to, and integration of, renewable and non-emitting energy sources, as well as existing electrical grids.Footnote1 This includes:
- Mine site infrastructure (e.g., grid connectivity, demonstration and deployment of renewable or alternative energy technologies, battery storage projects and electric vehicle charging stations for mining equipment)
- projects with a regional impact on the development or expansion of critical mineral resource production. Regional impacts may include larger scale initiatives to provide renewable or alternative energy for mining activities at more than one mine site and local communities (e.g., hydroelectric projects)
Transportation infrastructure projects under the program are those that directly enable the development or expansion of critical minerals resources, including roads, rail, and marine transportation infrastructure necessary to connect the mine to the mid-stream segments of value chains (e.g., to processing facilities or to transportation systems that allow access to global markets). This includes:
- infrastructure that serves a single mine (e.g., an access road), and
- regional infrastructure that serves a mine or mining area and other users (e.g., nearby communities)
CMIF funded projects must be located entirely in Canada.
Maximum funding amount
The maximum funding available per project under this CFP is $50 million, unless the applicant is a provincial or territorial government, in which case the maximum is $100 million. Stream 1 projects requesting $10 million or less may be prioritized for funding to allow a diversity of projects to be funded.
Maximum percentages
For most contributions under the CMIF, the maximum contribution amount per project will be up to 50% of the project’s total eligible expenditures, with the following exceptions:
- Arctic and Northern projects may have up to 75% of total eligible expenditures funded. These projects are those that are located in an Arctic or northern region as defined by the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework (includes Yukon; the Northwest Territories; Nunavut; the Nunavik Region of Quebec; and the Nunatsiavut region of Newfoundland and Labrador) and that are submitted by:
- A public sector organization (e.g., provincial, territorial, or municipal government and their departments and agencies), an Indigenous community or government, or a not-for-profit organization, or
- A for-profit private sector organization where one of the aforementioned public sector organizations would have ultimate ownership of the asset following completion of the project
https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/federal-support-for-critical-mineral-projects-and-value-chains/critical-minerals-infrastructure-fund1/critical-minerals-infrastructure-fund-contribution-funding/applicant-guide-cmif-2023-24-call-for-proposals.html#a2a