JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has urged the provincial and federal governments to take bold steps to position Ontario's mining sector for continued success in the future.

In its ‘Digging Deeper: Strengthening Ontario's Mining Advantage’ report, the OCC made recommendations for Ontario-specific challenges to be dealt with to ensure the competitiveness of the province’s mining sector.

"Ontario mining is a real competitive advantage for the province and our expertise in mineral production, finance and innovation is in global demand.

"However, there are critical steps that government must take to ensure the sector's continued role as an economic driver in Ontario. We are calling on all levels of government to harmonise their efforts to ensure that mining investment continues to flow into Ontario now and in the future,” OCC CEO Allan O'Dette said.

In its report, the chamber recommended that the Ontario and Canada governments increase investment in northern infrastructure, one of the key barriers to mining development in the province.

Both levels of government had committed to large-scale infrastructure investment in the coming years. With renewed commitments to intergovernmental cooperation, the OCC saw clear opportunities to coordinate investment and unlock the potential of new mineral discoveries in Ontario's North.

The report also urged government to take steps to reduce regulatory uncertainty, which was consistently cited as a top issue by mining companies as they considered investing or expanding in Ontario.

Specifically, the report pushed for the establishment of a resource revenue sharing framework between government and Aboriginal communities to provide certainty surrounding the benefits that these communities would gain from mineral resource development. 

Meanwhile, the report noted that increasing Ontario's flow-through share tax credit from 5% to 20%, would extend the availability of the federal Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) and create an enhanced METC for remote projects.

Increasing Ontario's investment in mining research and innovation was another recommendation, while the report highlighted that leveraging the global demand for Ontario mining expertise to create new business opportunities and drive growth would also support the mining industry.

"The mining sector has a long history of bringing benefits to communities across Ontario and, with the right steps, it can continue do so in the future. What the industry needs is a clear signal that the federal and provincial governments are committed to positioning Ontario as the premier destination for mining investment,” added O'Dette.

The report came ahead of the release of the Ontario government’s renewed Mineral Development Strategy in the coming weeks.