Role of the State in the management of mineral resources and the allocation of rights

The vast territory of Québec is full of many valuable mineral substances.

In Québec, most mineral substances are part of the domain of the State, which means that the rocks and minerals present in the subsoil of Québec generally belong to the State.

In order to ensure fair and responsible management, it is up to the government to set rules for the issuance of rights surrounding these resources and their development. For more than a century, Québec has established and evolved the legal framework of the mining regime by taking into account Québec’s values and the sustainable and responsible development of its resources.

Mineral substances of the domain of the State can be categorized into two groups: surface mineral substances and mineral substances.

Surface mineral substances

Surface mineral substances, often referred to as SMS, are substances found on the soil surface. They are defined in section 1 of the Mining Act. These include:

• sand;
• gravel;
• rocks used for construction;
• silica;
• clay;
• peat, etc.

These substances belong to the owner of the soil. If they are located on public land, the State is responsible for granting rights to extract them. If they are located on private land, their extraction will be under the control of the landowner and applicable municipal rules.

Mineral substances

As for other mineral substances, they are part of the domain of the State, which means that they belong, in most cases, to the state of Québec, regardless of where they are in the subsoil. It is therefore up to the government to manage and control exploration and mining, including by allocating mining titles.

The list of mineral substances found in Québec’s subsoil is very broad. It is possible to find minerals such as:

• gold;
• silver;
• iron;
• copper;
• graphite;
• lithium.

To learn more about minerals, visit the Portal of Mineral Substances.

Since the state of Québec owns the rocks and minerals found in the subsoil, it is the responsibility of the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (MRNF) to issue rights, called mining titles, to authorize the exploration and mining of these mineral substances.

Several departments and agencies also have responsibilities as part of a mining project, as does the federal government. Refer to the normative framework applicable to the mining sector (in French only) (PDF 689 Kb) to learn the responsibilities.

The mining regime is based on a long-term vision that takes into account the inseparable nature of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of development activities.

It aims to:

• provide Quebeckers with a fair share of the wealth created by mining, taking into account other land-use opportunities and ensuring that mining is done for the benefit of future generations.
• develop expertise in the exploration, extraction and processing of mineral resources in Québec.
• promote transparency, by having access to more information from mining companies and making that information public.

The Mining Act was amended in 2024. Refer to this document for an overview of the amendments that came into force.