Toronto, April 29, 2026
Accelerate welcomes yesterday’s Spring Economic Update (SEU) and the federal government’s commitment to positioning Canada as a premier global destination for investment.
Building mechanisms that attract capital is vital to supporting the development of Canadian critical minerals and materials value chains. These are the backbone of advanced battery production and the ZEV supply chain. The SEU correctly recognizes that Canada’s industrial ambition in electrification and future technologies must be activated through a diverse suite of financial tools and a balanced fiscal approach.
The Canada Strong Fund reinforces a robust quarter of federal policy announcements, including the new Automotive and Defence Industrial Strategies. Deployed effectively, this coordinated approach will catalyze strategic investment and support Canadian firms in the battery supply chain.
We continually hear that the labour gap is a critical bottleneck and the Team Canada Strong program aims to address this. This program can support the talent needs of every segment from electrical infrastructure to mining. These are the clean economy jobs of the future and we are eager to see how this program can build out the workforce we need.
We also look forward to the forthcoming Nuclear Energy Strategy. Developing an abundant, modernized grid with effective distribution is not only essential for EV adoption but is the prerequisite for Canada to process critical battery materials at scale.
Finally, improvements to the SR&ED program under the Clean Economy Business Tax Incentives will provide critical support to the researchers and innovators driving battery technology forward. These enhancements, alongside existing ZEV equipment write-offs, support Canadian innovators in multiple fields.
By pairing major policy frameworks with targeted project-level support, the federal government is putting Canada on a clear path toward achieving our global EV and battery production goals.
Andrew McKinnon
Interim CEO