Secure land tenure

Ontario's Mining Act provides security of mining land tenure and fair and transparent mining law, allowing your company to plan long-term growth.

In 2016, there were 207,000 active mining claim units in good standing in Ontario. Over the past decade, the annual number of claim units in good standing has remained above 200,000 in every year – underlining a strong desire of claimholders to retain their properties.

$10.6 billion and growing

Ontario's mineral production has shown solid growth over the past 10 years, with a total value of $10.6 billion in 2016, and is forecast to keep growing in the long term.

In Ontario, you will find a diversified economy with a highly skilled workforce and abundant natural resources. Our economy has a proven record of weathering economic uncertainty in global markets, allowing you to focus on the future.

Purchasing claim maps

Mining claim maps are available for purchase from the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

Is your company where the action is?

Ontario offers highly competitive business costs that can boost your company's growth and profitability:

• on a global level, Ontario ranks among the top ten regions for exploration spending and production of platinum group metals (PGMs) and nickel
• in 2016, mining companies in Ontario spent $371 million on over 200 exploration projects ranging from prospecting to advanced exploration
• Ontario produces more than $10 billion worth of mining supplies and services every year
• we attract more exploration spending and produce more minerals by value than any other jurisdiction in Canada

Ontario mining sites

Over 200 mineral exploration projects are currently underway in Ontario. One very promising mineral development opportunity in Ontario is known as the Ring of Fire. Located in Ontario's Far North, current estimates suggest multi-generational potential of chromite production and significant production of nickel, copper and platinum. In the Ring of Fire, work continues to advance at the Eagle's Nest nickel-copper deposit.

The information you need

Need more specific information? We offer a comprehensive array of maps, surveys, reports and digital data to help you make an informed decision for your business operations. Contact us to find out more.

How Ontario compares

The global mining industry gets business done in Ontario. That means that you'll have access to markets and capital, whether you're in mining finance or looking for capital to grow your business.

• Approximately 1,200 mining companies were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) in 2016, including more than half of the public mining companies in the world.
• Capital investment and development in Ontario's mining industry has increased from $453 million in 2002 to 1.4 billion in 2016.
• In 2016, approximately half of all new mining equity capital raised in the world came from the TSX and TSX-V.

Grow with the right talent

If you are looking for the right people, Ontario offers a deep talent pool for sourcing mining, energy and infrastructure industry personnel, including managerial and technical staff. You will find one of the best mining education clusters in the world to support your company's growth.

Ontario has the best educated workforce in the G7. Over 68% of the population has a post-secondary degree.

Nineteen of Ontario's 20 universities and 24 colleges have world-class mining, geology and engineering programs. In addition, Ontario's mining industry is supported by an array of R&D institutes. Explore the map to see where our programs are located.

A record of safe mining operations

Our workforce also helps to ensure safe mining operations. Ontario is one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world and continues to improve both the lost time injury rate and total medical injury rate.

• Ontario's 2016 lost time injury rate for mining was 0.5 per 200,000 employee hours while in 2015 it was 0.6.
• Our 2016 total injury rate for mining was 3.8 per 200,000 employee hours while in 2015 it was 3.9.

Lower corporate tax rates

Ontario offers across-the-board savings on taxes:

• we offer a lower corporate tax rate than the U.S. average
• we also offer one of the most internationally competitive corporate tax rates for mining according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Report on Canadian Mining 2013
• our corporate income tax rate (CIT, provincial and federal combined) is lower than the average of G20 countries and lower than the average federal-state CIT rate in the United States
• we also provide an additional 5% tax credit on top of the 15% federal Mineral Exploration Tax Credit

The lowest overall business costs in the G7

In Ontario, you'll benefit from highly competitive business costs that can boost your company's growth and profitability.

Generous tax incentives

• Combined with federal R&D programs, Ontario's R&D tax program can reduce your after-tax cost of every $100 in R&D spending to about $61, or $37 for small businesses.
• Ontario businesses engaged in mining and quarrying, contract drilling and related support activities had $79 million in total business enterprise R&D intramural expenditures in 2013, and $78 million in 2011. That's proof that if innovation is part of your business, Ontario is the right place to be.

Leverage government support

The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation invests in research to assist mining companies in the areas of exploration, deep mining, integrated mine engineering, the environment and sustainability.

The Ontario Geological Survey provides electronic geological, geophysical and geological maps and data. OGSEarth allows you to view this data using geographic information programs such as Google Earth.

In 2015, the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate (NIER) Program was made permanent. The program will provide a continued investment of up to $120 million annually to support large industrial users in Northern Ontario, including several mining companies, reducing their electricity costs up to 25%.

The federal Mineral Exploration Tax Credit program provides investors in the flow through shares of mineral exploration companies working in Canada a 15% tax credit. Ontario provides an additional 5% credit for companies exploring in the province. This program allows tax deductions for exploration to be passed on to investors. For the 2016 tax year, a $1,000 investment in flow through shares for exploration in Ontario could cost as little as $375 after federal and provincial deductions.

Ontario has updated its Mining Act to provide more clarity and certainty to the mineral industry while respecting the rights of Aboriginal communities and private landowners. As part of its ongoing Mining Act Modernization (MAM) process, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) is moving to implement province-wide online claim staking and online mining claims management.