Canada has announced 26 new investments and partnerships under the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance. The measures aim to unlock C$6.4 billion (€4.1 billion) in projects supporting defence, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. Several focus on graphite, including integrated natural and synthetic supply chains connecting Canada with Europe, the U.S. and Japan.
Nouveau Monde Graphite is developing the Matawinie mine near Montreal. It has offtake agreements with Panasonic (Japan), Traxys (Luxembourg) and the Canadian government. Japan has declared investment interest. The project has received more than C$35 million (€22 million) from the Canada Growth Fund, a US$430 million (€406 million) financing letter from Export Development Canada and a letter of interest from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. The company aims to build North America’s largest fully integrated natural graphite operation.
Northern Graphite, currently the only producer of natural graphite in North America, signed a letter of intent with Italy’s Alkeemia for offtake and toll processing. Alkeemia operates a purification pilot plant in Porto Marghera. Northern plans to apply the same technology in proposed anode material plants in Quebec and France.
Vianode is building a synthetic graphite plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. The project has a US$500 million (€472 million) financing letter from Export Development Canada, support from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and a letter of interest from the German government for a US$300 million (€283 million) export credit guarantee. Vianode has an offtake agreement with General Motors.
Focus Graphite is piloting a chemical-free electrothermal process for purifying natural flake graphite. The project has up to C$14.1 million (€9 million) in conditional funding from Natural Resources Canada and involves partners in Ukraine and the United States. It will use feedstock from the Lac Knife and Lac Tétépisca deposits.
Northern Graphite and Rain Carbon Canada received C$860,000 (€550,000) under the Canada–Germany R&D program to develop battery-grade material from graphite tailings. The goal is to support fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using recycled mining waste.
These projects show Canada is building graphite capacity across mining, purification and battery material production. Public financing and strategic partnerships connect Canadian resources to allied supply chains in Europe and Asia.
For European buyers, these initiatives offer access to non-Chinese graphite for anodes and purified inputs. The Northern–Alkeemia agreement could support new anode capacity in France. Canadian supply may also help buyers meet EU sourcing standards and reduce import risk.
For European producers, competition is likely to grow in high-purity and synthetic grades. Canadian projects benefit from large-scale public backing and cost advantages. European refiners may face pressure unless they focus on niche or low-carbon graphite segments. The trend may also encourage more direct partnerships between European firms and Canadian developers. By contrast, EU support remains limited. One exception is the €90 million granted to Vianode in 2023 through the EU Innovation Fund. In Sweden, €7.7 million was awarded in October to Talga to optimise processing and produce validation samples of both natural and recycled graphite.
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