POLL: MINING CAN HELP MAINTAIN INDEPENDENCE AGAINST TRUMP THREATS

Restructuring permitting is key to creating jobs and opportunity

Nova Scotians know we need to create jobs, become more self-reliant and build a stronger province. The mining and quarrying industry is part of the solution. However, the Government of Nova Scotia needs to cut red tape, while maintaining environmental standards, to help our industry grow.

75% of Nova Scotians agree that the mining and quarrying sector can play an important role in establishing Canadian economic independence, according to polling. Only 11% disagree. (The balance is undecided.)

Other survey results show that:

• 76% of Nova Scotians support mining critical minerals in the province and only 11% oppose it. That is an 11% increase in support for mining critical minerals compared to MANS’ spring 2024 poll. Critical minerals are essential for achieving climate goals because they play important roles in things like electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.
• 72% of Nova Scotians agree that the mining and quarrying sector plays an important role in economic development in rural areas (up from 67% in 2024). 12% disagree.
• 70% agree that the sector provides well-paying jobs to Nova Scotians (up from 64% in 2024). 12% disagree.
• 75% support mining gold in the province (up from 71% in 2024). Only 15% oppose it.

Across all questions, support for the industry is significantly higher this year than in 2024.

The poll also found that most Nova Scotians agree that the Government of Nova Scotia needs to cut red tape while maintaining environmental standards:

• 72% support setting a goal of issuing permits for new mining projects within 1-2 years. 12% are opposed.
• 74% support consolidating the mine permitting process within a single department/branch of government, as other provinces do. Only 11% are opposed.

Nova Scotia should follow the example of other provinces and put one department in charge of permitting for new mines. Not having a single department in charge creates uncertainty and confusion for project proponents. It often does the same for government officials, who frequently work at cross purposes to each other and offer contradictory and ever-changing interpretations of permitting rules.

We need clear, science-based, consistently-applied rules and regulations that protect the environment while also allowing us to create jobs for Nova Scotians.

Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry employs over 3000 Nova Scotians, mostly in rural areas, and its average total compensation (wages and benefits) is $102,000 per year.

Restructuring Permitting Backgrounder

MANS is calling for the Government of Nova Scotia to restructure the province’s permitting system for the mineral sector – specifically, by putting a beefed-up Geoscience and Mines Branch in charge of permitting. This would create a centre of excellence that has the geologists, mining engineers, environmental scientists and other experts needed to effectively and efficiently regulate mineral exploration and mining. This is how other provinces regulate their mining industries.

There is a growing global consensus that permitting for new mines needs to be reformed because it takes an average of 17 years to get from mineral deposit discovery to actual mining - too slow for climate plans.

The International Energy Agency argues for “a cut in permitting times to just one year.”

Regulatory permitting of new mines is a major bottle neck in the process and jurisdictions across Canada and around the world are taking steps to expedite permitting while maintaining environmental protections.

Nova Scotia needs to catch up. The province has a negative reputation in the global mining industry as a place to invest, and our permitting system is a major reason.

In other provinces, a Department of Mines is responsible for permitting and it has the expertise needed to properly regulate the mineral sector. It is mostly a one-stop shop for permitting, which ensures that permitting is efficient and effective, that it adheres to reasonable timelines, and that it holds the industry to the highest standards.

In Nova Scotia, the Department of Natural Resources, through its Geoscience and Mines Branch, has responsibility for facilitating development of Nova Scotia’s mineral resources but little actual authority to fulfill this mandate. Most of the provincial government’s experts in minerals and mining are employees in the Geoscience and Mines Branch. Yet they have almost no authority, or even influence, over the permitting process for environmental and operational matters.

Other departments and branches control most permitting for the mineral sector. While they each have their own expertise, they regulate a range of industries and are not necessarily expert in any one of them.

The result is a system in which the majority of the Government’s exploration and mining experts are not involved in most permitting related to the minerals sector, while people who are not experts in exploration and mining are responsible for almost all permitting. This is the opposite of how the permitting system should be designed and at odds with how other provinces structure their systems.

Not having a single department in charge of permitting creates uncertainty and confusion for project proponents. It often does the same for government officials, who frequently work at cross purposes to each other and offer contradictory and ever-changing interpretations of permitting rules.

Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry employs over 3000 Nova Scotians, mostly in rural areas, and its average total compensation (wages and benefits) is $102,000 per year. We have potential to create a lot more jobs, and to contribute to global supply of the minerals that are urgently needed to achieve climate goals.

However, our permitting system is holding us back.

We are not asking that regulatory oversight, especially related to environmental matters, be made any less stringent. The modern mining industry fully supports protecting the environment and it operates in an environmentally-responsible fashion. Our concerns are with red tape, unclear requirements and lengthening timelines.

To help build a stronger province, we need clear, science-based, consistently-applied rules and regulations that protect the environment while also allowing us to create jobs for Nova Scotians.