Initiatives for Fostering Economic Benefits in Host Communities

Local economic benefits are much more than a simple “bonus” of major projects, they are essential for fostering social acceptability. In a context in which communities want to concretely benefit from development on their territory, understanding how to maximize these benefits is essential for everyone: municipalities, businesses, citizens, development organizations and project proponents.

This session gives an overview of various tools and approaches that have proven effective. It will present the results of the Baromètre minier 2026 (mining barometre), a concrete example of regional mobilization around a new mining sector, citizen participation mechanisms that generate tangible benefits, and a committee whose objective is to maximize a project’s economic impact.

In short, this session will help understand what creates actual benefits and how to achieve this.

Economic benefits are among the strongest arguments in favour of mining development. But how much of that value is actually recognized and felt by the people and communities?

Drawing on findings from the second, 2026 edition of the Social Acceptability Barometer: Canadian Mining Sector, this presentation will explore how Quebecers perceive the mining industry’s economic contribution and how those perceptions have evolved since the 2025 edition. Beyond the benefits mining brings to Québec’s economy, it will look at how citizens perceive the impact on their own communities and day-to-day lives.

Do communities feel they are seeing a fair return for the impacts they experience? Are the opportunities for local development, employment and business considered sufficient? And, perhaps most importantly, can people actually see the benefits?

The presentation will examine what it takes for economic benefits to be seen as meaningful, credible and equitable. Because social acceptability and trust in project developers are built on more than major announcements. They depend on demonstrating, in tangible ways, what mining development brings to the communities where projects are located.

This discussion will provide a backdrop for exploring strategies to maximize economic benefits in communities and make those benefits more visible to the people who live there.

Social acceptability is essential to the development of major natural resource projects in Québec’s regions. Local and regional economic spinoffs serve as a strategic lever when they are well understood by local populations and, above all, when those populations are partners in the projects and involved at an early stage. Involving host communities is therefore a condition for project success, whether in renewable energy, forest management, mining operations or agriculture.

In the mining industry, we talk a lot about grades, tonnage, and profitability. But sometimes we forget one important thing: you can have the best mineral deposit in the world, but if the local community doesn’t want you there, getting that first tonne of rock out of the ground might be a little complicated!

At First Phosphate, with our Bégin-Lamarche project in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, we’ve learned that social acceptance isn’t something you find in a feasibility study. It’s built around the table, through discussions with citizens, municipalities, local businesses, and First Nations. Most importantly, it’s built when people see that the project can bring real benefits to their community. Because le

t’s face it, fancy PowerPoint presentations are great, but they don’t pay the mortgage! At First Phosphate, our goal isn’t just to dig a hole—it’s to create wealth around that hole! We want local businesses to win contracts, workers to earn a good living close to home, and communities to truly benefit from development.

In a region where the forestry industry is facing difficult times, creating approximately 400 quality jobs can make a real difference. And if we succeed in building a new phosphate supply chain for LFP batteries, we’ll have accomplished much more than simply opening a mine.

Because at the end of the day, the best sign of social acceptance is when your neighbours are just as excited about the project as you are!

About five years ago, Osisko revived the idea of mining the Murdochville area in the Gaspé Peninsula, a mine site that had closed in 2002. With initial studies proving conclusive, Osisko acquired the site in July 2023.

As part of the Québec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals, the Québec Ministry of Natural Resources agreed to set up a maximization committee for the project. The community responded immediately. Local stakeholders want this industrial development to move forward in partnership with local residents and businesses in order to maximize local benefits.

This presentation will focus on the establishment of this committee to maximize economic benefits for the Gaspé Peninsula and the region’s First Nations. During his talk, Dave Lavoie of SADC de Gaspé will explain the committee’s composition, the challenges encountered, its early achievements, and the areas of action it has defined.