OTTAWA — The federal government is giving $20 million to Toronto-based Electra Battery Materials for its cobalt sulfate refinery in northeastern Ontario, The Logic has learned. 

The federal contribution to the $99.4-million project will flow through Ottawa’s $5-billion Strategic Response Fund, which replaced the flagship Strategic Innovation Fund last year.

“This project will support the construction and commissioning work related to the brownfield development of a cobalt sulfate refinery,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada says in its database of grants and contributions, to “provide battery-grade cobalt sulfate to domestic industries.” 

Pauline Rochefort, parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, is scheduled to announce an investment to “support domestic battery-grade cobalt sulfate production” on Monday afternoon in Temiskaming Shores, about 20 kilometres north of Cobalt, Ont.

The U.S. Department of Defense gave Electra US$20 million in 2024 to help begin construction of what would be the first battery-grade cobalt refinery in North America. Cobalt sulfate is needed to produce lithium-ion batteries, so the funding was in line with efforts by the Biden administration to support a midstream battery supply chain for electric vehicles.

U.S. President Donald Trump has shifted the U.S. away from EVs, though he remains keen on critical minerals. Canada’s federal government has been talking up EVs as part of its efforts to diversify international trade and breathe new life into an auto industry hit hard by U.S. tariffs. 

And while Prime Minister Mark Carney told The Canadian Press on Friday that Canada would not use its supply of raw critical minerals, or energy, as “leverage” in trade talks with the Trump administration, the federal government does view critical minerals as a national security priority.

Last September, the Ontario government announced $17.5 million for the project. The refinery will create an “integral link in the province’s critical mineral processing supply chains and fuel the next stages of Ontario’s leadership in electric vehicle battery manufacturing,” Vic Fedeli, the provincial economic development minister, said at the time.

“The government’s investment in Electra will create and maintain more than 160 jobs, including 60 full-time direct employment opportunities for Canadians in northern Ontario,” Gabrielle Landry, a spokesperson for Joly, said in a statement when asked about the funding.

The grants and contributions database said the funding agreement runs until April 30, 2048.

It also says Electra expects to finish construction work on the refinery by June 30, 2027.

Electra, which also received US$34 million in private equity financing in October 2025, did not respond to a request for comment from The Logic. The company announced in March 2025 that it had received a “letter of intent” from the federal government for $20 million in funding, but discussions were ongoing at the time.

With files from Murad Hemmadi in Toronto