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Much of Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli's Friday funding announcement focused on the synergies created and fostered not only among local companies but the partnerships created around the world by local organizations that benefit from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation grants.
Many of the companies receiving funding have established crucial roles in the supply chain, each meeting demands in various industries but especially when it comes to minerals and mining materials.
"All of these North Bay mining companies are so intermingled. Mining is so important to them and they all work so well together. There is a lot of expansion happening," Fedeli says.
Fedeli points to the government's Critical Minerals Strategy as a blueprint to connect industries, resources and workers in the north to the future of manufacturing in the south by ramping up the internal transfer of goods and services. He recently returned from a tour with Premier Doug Ford, including a stop in Washington D.C.
"This week, we saw the announcement of a $5-billion vehicle battery facility in Windsor," Fedeli says.
See: Electric vehicle battery plant to be built in Windsor
"The minerals that company needs come from northern Ontario — they come from around the world — but we have them," he continues. "Canada is the only jurisdiction in the Western Hemisphere with every mineral needed to make an electric vehicle. We have it all right here — at companies like Metal Fab, that are producing products that are shipped to the mines — and that's why this electric vehicle revolution is so critical to North Bay and all the companies in northern Ontario."
He adds, "For the first time in 120 years, the north is a part of the auto strategy."
It is a change of course for the PC government. Ford's strategy of building at least 400,000 electric vehicles and hybrids in the province by 2030 with the use of critical minerals found in the Ring of Fire to establish battery production in the province, according to this Canadian Press report, comes several years after this government scrapped electric vehicle rebates, stopped building provincially funded charging stations, and dropped a requirement for new homes to include wiring for potential EV chargers.
Friday, Fedeli announced more than $2.4 million in funding from Ontario through the NOHFC for projects in the mining supply, forestry, technology and agriculture sectors in Nipissing. Ontario says the investment will help support job creation, boost economic growth and improve the quality of life in northern communities.
Metal Fab Limited is one of the recipients. “The NOHFC funding to purchase new production equipment will streamline processes and allow our business to increase workflow,” says the company's third-generation general manager, Jake Grasser. “It will also allow us to decrease lead times while maintaining and improving the quality of products and services we provide.”
“Our government continues to foster a strong future in Nipissing by supporting economic growth, job creation and reaffirming the North as a great place to live and work,” Fedeli says. “It’s one more way we are signalling to the world that northern Ontario is open for business and open for jobs.”
Find below details of the NOHFC funding:
- $887,500 for DDS Drilling Services to purchase new equipment to expand its diamond core drilling services
- $400,020 for Pilot Diamond Tools Ltd. to renovate its facility and purchase new equipment to allow for business expansion
- $400,000 for Mano Aggregates Inc to develop an onsite crushing facility for processing of aggregates
- $227,717 for JMI Design Studios/The Original Bug Shirt Company to purchase and renovate the building and purchase equipment
- $187,500 for Northern Meat Packers to establish an abattoir/processing facility
- $144,092 for North Bay Machining Centre Inc. to purchase a robotic cell and update its electrical infrastructure to help improve productivity
- $124,041 for iRing Inc. to develop hardware and software prototypes
- $56,988 for Metal Fab Limited to purchase new production equipment
- $44,967 for Golden Treasures Maple Products to assist with Capital construction and purchase of equipment
DDS Drilling Services co-founder David Jones was on hand to thank the NOHFC and Fedeli for the $887,500 in funding. Jones, also the company's business development officer says, "DDS Drilling Services is a brand new diamond core drilling company based in North Bay that provides drilling services to exploration companies and operating mines. Financial assistance from NOHFC helped us purchase two clean-tech drilling systems, support equipment, and tooling required for our start-up. This project has created 25 full-time jobs, all in northern Ontario, and we continue to expand our operations."
Jones shares its Australia-based client, Aston Minerals Limited is currently attempting to raise more than $30 million for the expansion of drilling at the Edleston Project nickel deposit 60 kilometres south of Timmins, Ont., and the trickle-down of that will be experienced by many local companies.
The NOHFC promotes economic prosperity across northern Ontario by providing financial assistance to projects — big and small, rural and urban — that stimulate growth, job creation and skills development. Since June 2018, the NOHFC has invested more than $473 million in 4,244 projects in northern Ontario, leveraging more than $1.5 billion in investment and creating or sustaining over 6,600 jobs.
