Strategic Response Fund — Critical minerals

Eligible expenses

• Direct labour, direct materials and equipment, and other direct costs.
• Overhead costs, subject to program limits.
• Subcontracts and consultants costs.
• Land and building costs that are necessary and reasonable to carry out project activities.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Advertising, except reasonable advertising of an industrial or institutional character placed in trade, technical or professional journals for the dissemination of information for the industry or institution.
• Interest on invested capital, bonds, debentures, bank or other loans, including related bond discounts and finance charges.
• Amortization of unrealized appreciation of assets, depreciation of assets, and unreasonable compensation for officers and employees.
• Donations, dues and other memberships other than regular trade and professional associations, entertainment expenses, fines and penalties, losses on investments or bad debts, losses on other projects or contracts, and premiums for life insurance on the lives of officers and/or directors.
• Product development or improvement expenses not associated with the project, provisions for contingencies, selling and marketing expenses associated with project products or services, and taxes including excess profit taxes or surtaxes, federal or provincial income taxes, goods and services taxes, and related special expenses.

• Integration across the critical minerals value chain.
• New net industrial capacity in Canada.
• Strong private-sector investment interest.
• Advanced project stage and engineering maturity.
• Circularity and supply security benefits.

• Review SRF project requirements, check your eligibility online, and pitch your project during a consultation meeting.
• If SRF officials recommend it, submit the Statement of Interest using the application form emailed by SRF officers.
• If invited, submit the full application with the additional project information requested by SRF.

• After the Statement of Interest is submitted, SRF acknowledges receipt, assesses the information, and notifies the applicant of the result.
• The result may include a request for additional information, an invitation to the full application phase through a Letter of Intent, or a notice that the project will not be further considered for support.
• Full applications undergo due diligence and benefits assessment, including technical feasibility, additional benefits to Canada, greenhouse gas impact if applicable, managerial, technical and workforce capability, equity, diversity and inclusion practices, and financial and market risk.
• If the project passes due diligence, SRF may negotiate a Term Sheet, recommend the project to the Minister for approval, and develop a Contribution Agreement once approvals are in place.
• After the Contribution Agreement is signed, the program is claim based, costs are typically claimed quarterly, regular reporting and monitoring continue throughout the project life, and SRF may audit claimed costs, reported royalties, and compliance with the Lobbying Act and the Impact Assessment Act during negotiations.