Ontario’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation Greg Rickford has announced a C$61.8 million ($45 million) investment to kick-start construction of the “corridor to prosperity,” providing road access to the Ring of Fire region.
Speaking at the Building Together: Indigenous Business and Infrastructure conference in Toronto, Rickford emphasized that this infrastructure will unlock the region’s vast endowment of critical minerals like nickel, copper and gold that will be sold globally.
The investment will fund the Main Street Rehabilitation Project in Geraldton, located in the Greenstone municipality of Northern Ontario. Rickford described Geraldton as the gateway to the Ring of Fire, and he confirmed that construction would begin this fall.
For 18 years, accessing the Ring of Fire’s valuable minerals has been a challenge.
Rickford highlighted that mining projects in Ontario have often been bogged down by complex regulatory processes and multiple layers of consultation, with some communities facing as many as 80 different procedural hurdles. Many of these communities have populations of just a few hundred and limited capacity, making development slow.
To address this, Ontario has overhauled its approach, working directly with First Nations communities. Rickford shared that projects which once seemed only possible on paper are now actively producing hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold annually. He explained that Ontario now knows how to streamline processes without compromising environmental standards — “moving at the speed of business,” he said, while ensuring a legacy of infrastructure remains to support ongoing development.
Investing in infrastructure isn’t just about mining. It will benefit communities, including First Nations, by improving broadband, water and wastewater systems, and providing clean energy solutions — especially electrification where diesel power is still common. With climate change shortening the seasonal window for transporting goods to remote First Nations, reliable, all-season roads are crucial.
“This is more than building a mine,” Rickford said. “It’s about giving First Nations access to modern infrastructure that many take for granted.”
He added that communities along the corridor, roughly spanning the distance from Toronto to Montreal, stand to gain jobs, infrastructure and equitable participation. The first piece of this project is the five-kilometer Geraldton Main Street, which will connect Highway 11 to Highway 584, eventually linking up with the Trans-Canada Highway.
This stretch will create the foundation for the future development of the Ring of Fire, including Migizi Plaza — a large service hub for commodities and machinery staging, built in partnership with First Nations. It will ensure the corridor starts with a “business-ready” environment that supports mining expansion.
The Windspeaker media outlet stated after the announcement, Rickford participated in a fireside chat with Webequie First Nation Chief Cornelius Wabasse. They discussed plans with Ontario Premier Doug Ford to develop a secondary offshoot, the Webequie Supply Road, and critical infrastructure for the community, including a multi-purpose facility.
Key to ongoing development will be capacity building, training and employment initiatives such as Red Seal Heavy Machinery certification. Wabasse noted that following the guidance of Elders and his community, he is committed to working with industry and government to foster prosperity. He sees mining and infrastructure projects as vital opportunities for his community’s future.
