🇨🇦 Canada’s Hidden Map: Visualizing the Mineral Resources That Will Shape Our Future
Introducing the Canadian Mineral Resource Map — a public-good tool to help Canadians understand the foundations of our economic future.
If you ask most Canadians where our critical minerals come from, you’ll hear something vague: “Probably northern Ontario… maybe Québec… maybe BC?”
But the truth is:
Few Canadians can actually visualize where the mineral resources that power our economy—and will define our future—are located.
And that’s a problem.
Minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements are the backbone of clean energy, EV batteries, advanced manufacturing, and global supply chains. Canada is one of the world’s key suppliers—but the public visibility of this sector is fragmented, scattered, and difficult to navigate.
So I want to build something to help.
Today, I’m introducing the Canadian Mineral Resource Map:
a simple, open-access, interactive tool designed to help Canadians understand the geology, geography, and strategic importance of our mineral resources.
Why I Want to Build This
Canada has enormous potential in critical minerals — not just for economic growth, but for industrial development, technological advancement, and global leadership.
But the underlying data is:
buried across federal and provincial sites
highly technical
hard for citizens to interpret
lacking a unified national overview
Yet minerals are at the center of some of the biggest questions facing the country:
Where are the opportunities for regional economic development?
Which provinces dominate which minerals?
Where are companies exploring, developing, and producing?
How do we strengthen Canada’s role in global supply chains?
A modern country needs modern tools.
And that starts with visibility.
I wanted to create something simple, factual, accessible—something any Canadian can click through and immediately understand.
What the Tool Does
The Canadian Mineral Resource Map brings together public data from:
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Provincial geological surveys
Canadian Mining Journal
Public company filings (NI 43-101)
Industry and government reports
…and consolidates it into a single, intuitive interface.
You can explore:
mineral types (gold, silver, copper, zinc, etc.)
provinces and territories
development stages
Exploration
Development
Production
Click on any deposit, and you’ll see:
the project name
the mineral(s)
the operator
its location
and its current development status
You’ll also see national statistics at a glance—like how many gold or lithium deposits Canada has, and which provinces are most active.
It’s simple by design.
Public data should be understandable by the public.
Why Minerals Matter More Than Ever
The world is accelerating toward electrification, automation, clean energy, and geopolitical realignment.
Minerals are the backbone.
Countries that control reliable supplies of critical minerals will have an advantage in:
clean energy competitiveness
EV manufacturing
battery cycle innovation
national defense
global trade influence
Canada is uniquely positioned:
We have the minerals. We have the land. We have the institutions.
But we don’t yet have the public literacy.
For many Canadians, natural resources feel like something happening “somewhere far away.”
This map is a small step toward making it visible, understandable, and relevant.
Public Data as Public Infrastructure
One belief drives this project:
Public data is a form of public infrastructure.
The more accessible and transparent it is, the more empowered a society becomes.
Tools like Trade Barriers Tracker and Canada Spends, built by Build Canada, show how powerful civic technology can be when it helps Canadians better understand government, policy, and national issues.
I hope this Mineral Resource Map contributes to that same mission.
It is:
non-partisan
open-access
factual
built for the public interest
My hope is that this becomes a foundation for deeper conversations about how Canada can lead in the next generation of economic development.
A Personal Note
I’ve always believed that builders can create public value—not just companies, but tools, ideas, and infrastructure that help people understand the world more clearly.
This project reflects a personal mission of mine:
to contribute to Canada’s future through work that is transparent, accessible, and grounded in data.
If you’d like to collaborate, build new tools together, or explore future public-good projects, feel free to reach out.
Thank you for reading — stay tuned for the official launch of the Canadian Mineral Resource Map.