Pakistan eyes Canadian mining capital as Ottawa-backed investment footprint expands globally
Abida Shaheen
Islamabad: Pakistan is looking to tap Canada’s extensive global mining investment network as renewed bilateral economic engagement creates an opportunity to attract Canadian capital, technology and expertise into the country’s largely untapped mineral sector.
The opportunity comes at a time when Canadian companies have established a substantial presence in mining markets around the world. Natural Resources Canada reported that 747 Canadian companies held C$240.6 billion in mining assets abroad in 2024 across 95 countries, underlining the scale of Canada’s internationally deployed mining capital.
For Pakistan, attracting even a portion of this investment could provide a pathway not only to develop mineral resources but also to strengthen exploration, geological testing, processing and downstream industries.
Recent investment figures suggest that Canadian companies are already showing greater interest in Pakistan. State Bank of Pakistan data show that Canada contributed around $50 million in net foreign direct investment in August 2026, making it the second-largest source of FDI in Pakistan during the month after China.
The emerging investment interest coincides with renewed efforts by Islamabad and Ottawa to strengthen the broader investment framework. Pakistan and Canada agreed on September 15 to accelerate negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, with another round expected in early October.
However, experts believe the availability of a large pool of Canadian capital does not automatically translate into investment. Pakistan will need to present projects that meet the technical, regulatory and commercial requirements of international mining companies.
Qaiser Abbas Qamar, Research Associate at Research and Development Solutions (RADS), Islamabad, said Pakistan’s key challenge was to create the level of regulatory and commercial predictability required for long-term investment.
Mining projects generally involve significant upfront expenditure and long development periods, he said, making stability in taxation, licensing, regulation, contract enforcement, foreign-exchange arrangements and profit repatriation particularly important.
He said uncertainty in approvals could make otherwise commercially attractive projects difficult to finance, especially where investors have to deal with multiple government agencies and unclear processing timelines.
According to Qamar, Pakistan should therefore shift from simply promoting its investment potential towards developing a pipeline of investment-ready projects.
Such projects should have feasibility studies, regulatory requirements, land arrangements, financing requirements and potential local partners identified before being presented to Canadian investors.
The approach could be particularly relevant for Pakistan’s mining sector, where Canadian companies could potentially participate across the entire value chain, from geological exploration and mineral testing to mine development, processing and marketing.
Abdul Haq Mengal, Mining Engineer at the Balochistan Mineral Exploration Company, said Pakistan needed to convert its mineral prospects into technically credible projects supported by reliable geological and exploration data.
He said international investors required dependable information before committing substantial capital, along with clarity on exploration licences, environmental approvals, land access, security arrangements and other government procedures.
A transparent progression from exploration to feasibility studies, financing and mine development would help reduce uncertainty for international investors and make Pakistani mineral projects more competitive, Mengal said.
He added that partnerships with Canadian companies should not remain limited to extracting minerals.
Canadian capital and technical expertise could be combined with Pakistan’s mineral rights and local knowledge to develop exploration and mining operations, while cooperation in processing, technical training and downstream manufacturing could enable Pakistan to retain a greater share of the value generated from its resources.
Omar Ashraf, an international trade and mining professional, said Canadian expertise could also help Pakistan address gaps in mineral testing, exploration technology and project evaluation.
He identified modern testing laboratories and advanced exploration technologies as areas where cooperation could strengthen Pakistan’s ability to assess and develop its mineral resources.
Ashraf also pointed to opportunities for small and medium-sized projects, particularly those seeking to move beyond excavation into beneficiation, processing, product development and marketing.
Independent geological and technical assessments, he said, would be important for establishing the credibility of projects and turning mineral prospects into bankable investment propositions.
The broader Pakistan-Canada relationship could provide a platform for cooperation beyond mining as well. Agriculture, renewable energy and other value-added industries offer additional areas where Canadian capital, technology and expertise could be paired with Pakistan’s domestic resources and market potential.
Yet mining could provide a particularly important entry point because of Canada’s established international expertise and the scale of capital already deployed by Canadian companies overseas.
For Pakistan, the opportunity is therefore not simply to attract Canadian investment but to compete for it by preparing projects to international standards.
A stronger investment-protection framework, predictable regulations, reliable geological information and professionally structured projects could help Pakistan position its mineral resources for consideration by Canadian investors.
The coming months, particularly the next round of FIPA negotiations, could provide an opportunity to build a stronger institutional foundation for this engagement. The more immediate challenge, however, will be converting Pakistan’s resource potential into credible projects capable of attracting long-term Canadian capital and generating greater domestic value addition.