Ontario signed an agreement with Alberta to build infrastructure and energy corridors that include a possible railway to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region, the premiers of both provinces announced on Monday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed two non-legally binding memorandums of understanding about increasing trade and building energy corridors, including commitments to build oil and natural gas pipelines to northern and southern Ontario.
Ford has been trying for years to build a critical mineral supply chain that would connect the mines in northern Ontario to processing facilities further south. It was first part of his vision to create an electric vehicle battery supply chain, after significant investments in several plants in recent years.
Lately, Ford has been pitching mining the Ring of Fire region as another tool to fight U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war.
"New rail lines would connect Ontario's Ring of Fire region, critical mineral mining projects and processing facilities to western Canadian ports as we build an end-to-end critical mineral supply chain," Ford said Monday at the Calgary Stampede alongside Smith.
"This is how we diversify our trading partners, this is how we make ourselves less reliant on the United States."
The two provinces will embark in the fall on a feasibility study on railways, pipelines and port projects.
Two First Nations are currently leading environmental assessments on three roads that would connect the Ring of Fire region, and a current mining exploration site within the area called Eagle's Nest, to the provincial highway system.
Ford's government recently passed legislation, known as Bill 5, that creates so-called special economic zones where provincial and municipal laws can be suspended for certain projects.
Ford has said the province will name the Ring of Fire as the first such zone.
Prime Minister Mark Carney's government recently passed similar legislation designed to fast track "nation building" projects.
Both Ford and Carney want to see the Ring of Fire mined for its critical minerals and say they will respect First Nations' rights in the process.
But the two new laws have sparked outrage from First Nations who say they weren't properly consulted about the legislation and their concerns are being ignored.
First Nations have threatened blockades of highways, railways and mines in response. Several communities have begun mobilizing peacefully across different parts of Ontario.
That included a four-day traffic slowdown along the Trans-Canada Highway by Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg, a First Nation north of Lake Superior.
Attawapiskat and Neskantaga First Nations have set up an encampment near a proposed bridge to the Ring of Fire. And several Grassy Narrows First Nation members have set up an encampment in the park next to the Ontario legislature in downtown Toronto.
Ontario and Alberta have signed the memorandum with the objective to "advance the safe transportation, domestic access and use, and international export of oil and gas and domestically-processed critical minerals by building a long-term collaborative relationship between the parties," the document said.
The two provinces have agreed to collaborate in several areas, including the "development of rail infrastructure to support the subsequent phases of the Ring of Fire, including all critical mineral mining projects and the infrastructure needed to support them, as well as processing and refining capacity needed for an end-to-end Canadian critical minerals supply chain, including access to western Canadian ports."
Ontario is also looking for support from the federal government to build a deep sea port in James Bay to get its critical minerals and Alberta's oil and gas to Atlantic Canada and overseas.
Ontario New Democrat mining critic Jamie West said Ford is "putting the cart before the horse" and must repeal the new law.
"Thanks to his power grab with Bill 5, the future of this entire project, jobs, and northern development is up in the air," he said in a statement.
"Instead of taking the right steps to strengthen Ontario, the premier focused on running roughshod over First Nations and treaty rights, sowing more division in our province, and launching us into a summer of chaos and uncertainty."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
