Critical minerals are used in the manufacturing of just about all modern technology — including things like solar panels and EV batteries that are key to the global energy transition. But according to our guest, Rebekah Young, the world doesn't currently have enough of these minerals and what we do have is concentrated in just a handful of countries. Rebekah is the Head of Inclusion and Resilience Economics at Scotiabank and recently wrote a report all about this shortage. She’ll give us a critical minerals 101 lesson and outline the challenges Canada and the world will face to meet this new demand.   

Key moments this episode: 

1:27 — Let’s start with the basics: what are critical minerals? 

2:24 — What are critical minerals used for? 

3:33 — An eye-opening fact about how many more critical minerals are used to produce an EV compared to a traditional combustion engine vehicle 

3:48 — Just how critical critical minerals are when it comes to hitting net zero targets 

4:48 — What exactly does it take to get critical minerals out of the ground and into products we use? 

6:06 — What kind of critical mineral deposits does Canada have? 

7:54 — What is the current demand for critical minerals and what will that look like in the coming years? 

11:11 — Why nearshoring may be a solution to Canada’s critical mineral needs in the future 

14:26 — The key takeaway for the average Canadian on this issue