“This is about sovereignty. Our ability to live as we wish,” Prime Minister Mark Carney remarked in his September address to the European Parliament, framing Canada and the EU’s pursuit of deeper ties as ultimately about building “collective resilience” in a less certain world.

His message is simple: neither economy can be fully self-sufficient, but each offers something the other needs.

“Europe brings … market power,” while “Canada brings energy, (including) one of the world’s largest endowments of critical minerals,” Carney said. 

Indeed, critical minerals are an obvious linchpin for stronger Canada-EU trade relations and the economic resilience he describes. Clean Energy Canada’s recent analysis ranked Canada second only to Norway among the EU’s current suppliers best placed to supply the bloc based on its preferred trade and environmental, social and governance requirements.

And Europe’s rapid energy transition, powered by mineral-hungry clean technologies, only highlights the scale of the opportunity. 

Faced with soaring fossil fuel prices and the risk of reduced imports, the EU has been doubling down on renewable energy deployment. By the second quarter of this year,........

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