Since January 2025, a Maximization Committee has been in place to maximize the economic benefits of the Mines Gaspé project by Métaux Osisko.
A communication process is being set up between potential local and regional suppliers and Métaux Osisko.
The Côte-de-Gaspé Chamber of Commerce and the other members of the Committee (see list below) will be communicating information by spring 2025.
An initial database has been set up by Véronique Morency, and committee members are working to ensure that the database is complete. A call will be made to our members and business network to ensure that the business community doesn't miss out on any opportunities.
Setting the scene
Over the past four years, the Mining Sector has twice consulted the public via nationwide participatory processes, in order to bring the development of mining activity and critical minerals in line with public expectations. We refer here to the steps taken prior to the design of the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals in 2019 and in the spring of 2023 as part of the Plan for the Harmonious Development of Mining Activity.
A number of similar findings emerged from these discussions, including the fact that:
- social acceptability is fundamental to the successful development of mining projects;
- the public and elected officials are concerned and reticent about mining development in Quebec;
- regions would benefit more from the economic spinoffs of mining activities on their territory.
Although social acceptability is at the heart of the most recent plans of the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, whether within the framework of the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan or the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals, it is clear that greater efforts are needed to establish and maintain dialogue in order to better meet the expectations of the population.
In response, the Mining Policy Division is proposing the creation of committees to maximize the regional economic benefits of mining projects, and to encourage the involvement of local and aboriginal communities in decisions concerning their sustainable development.
Osisko's development with Mines Gaspé is an opportunity to work with the prime contractor (Métaux Osisko), right from the start of project development.
Committee mission
The mission of the Maximization Committee, made up of local economic players and government departments, is to coordinate actions to maximize the regional economic benefits of Métaux Osisko's Mines Gaspé project with a view to sustainable development.
Mandate
- Take stock of the needs and priorities of the Haute-Gaspésie and La Côte-de-Gaspé RCMs in relation to the arrival of the Mines Gaspé project, such as manpower requirements, training, supplier expertise development, etc.;
- Identify opportunities in relation to the potential development of the Mines Gaspé mining project.
- Draw up an action plan. More specifically, this action plan should enable stakeholders to identify actions to be taken upstream of the project, and thus promote the maximization of economic spin-offs on a regional scale.
- Exchange views on common issues in order to identify possible solutions;
- Coordinate and harmonize member actions to ensure greater coherence and complementarity between them, and promote their influence.
Table representatives
The MRNF's Direction des politiques minières (DPM) is responsible for the maximization committee pilot project.
The committee is coordinated by Véronique Morency, DPM's economic impact maximization advisor.
For the first mandate, the MRNF, represented by Véronique Morency, will co-lead the committee's activities, with the support of the MRNF's Gaspésie Iles-de-la-Madeleine regional office, represented by its advisor, Andie Packwood-Cloutier.
The MRNF will be responsible for meeting logistics, secretarial duties, drawing up and updating the calendar of activities, following up on actions agreed at meetings and reporting on progress.
Committee members
The maximization committee is made up of twelve (12) departments and organizations. They are the DPM and the Direction régionale Gaspésie Iles-de-la-Madeleine of the MRNF, the Chambers of Commerce of La Côte-de-Gaspé and La Haute-Gaspésie, Canada Economic Development (CED), Métaux Osisko, the Mi'gmawei Mawiomi Business Corporation (MMBC), the MRCs of La Côte-de-Gaspé and La Haute-Gaspésie, the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation (MAMH), the Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et de l'Énergie (MEIE), the Société d'aide au développement des collectivités de La Haute-Gaspésie et de Gaspé (SADC), Services Québec, the City of Murdochville and the Micmac community of Gespeg.
