The new Canadian Space Resources Association is one of several space resource submissions to the Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) pre-budget consultation.
Unlike recent FINA pre-budget consultations there is no specific theme to this years consultation. Instead citizens and organizations were encouraged to submit “their thoughts on federal spending priorities.” To date there have been 469 briefs posted to the FINA committee website. That number is subject to change if additional briefs are added, which is sometimes the case.
With respect to the space sector, there were five submissions of which all but one, from GHGSat, were related to space resources.
Of note, there was no submission this year from the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) or any medium to large space organization.
The Canadian Space Resources Association
SpaceQ spoke with and also received email from Zac Trolley the acting Executive Director of the Canadian Space Resources Association (CSRA). The organization is new as of last year and is still in the early stages of organizing those interested.
Trolley told SpaceQ that “the Canadian Space Resource Association was created to build coordinated action between academia and industry that addresses the many challenges facing Canadian in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) efforts. Our mission for this association is to build a Canadian consensus on the best ideas for responsible ISRU. We aim to improve the lives of Canadians and humanity as a whole by perfecting how to responsibly and equitably develop the natural resources of our solar system.”
Trolley further stated that there are about “10 organizations that expressed interest from academics, operators, equipment providers, and mining groups” and that early discussions have been ongoing. There are no official members as of yet but the organization plans to build on its early discussions to grow the organization this spring. Other than officially signing up organizations as members this year they also are planning on potentially holding one or more workshops.
Trolley further stated that their initial discussions with stakeholder produced some common threads including;
- If there is to be a Canadian space resources industry, the government needs to provide a framework for business to take place. Companies can’t wait forever, and they will move to where they can do business.
- The current innovation framework is very prescriptive and it’s near impossible to get traction for a long-term idea. Natural resource development on Earth routinely has 10-15 year timelines, so if space resources are going to be successful, we need support programs that can operate on those timelines.
- The big hurdle to getting large-scale private investment into space resources is the lack of information on the resource. Proper prospecting has not happened and there is not enough information to develop a proper long-term business plan. If prospecting were to happen to a resource industry standard, the business landscape would look very different.
I’ll also point out that there is another industry organization that’s been under discussion by some for some time separate from the CSRA. It is not focussed on a specific theme, but sources tell me it aims to fill the niche of the discontinued Canadian Space Commerce Association and support those unhappy with AIAC. The yet to be announced industry group which is rumoured to have support of one or more large space companies could make its presence known this year.
The Finance Committee Submissions
Three of the five submissions, that of the CSRA, the Canadian Space Mining Corporation and the Lunar Water Supply Company are related and include some of the same people.
The CSRA submission includes signatures from Zac Trolley (Executive Director), Daniel Sax (CEO) and Sean Mitra (Chief Legal Officer). Trolley is also the CEO of the Lunar Water Supply Company. Mitra is also with the Lunar Water Supply Company as a co-founder and Chief Legal Officer. Sax is also the CEO of the Canadian Space Mining Corporation.
So as three organizations have some cross-over it’s no surprise that their brief contains some identical recommendations. Most of those recommendations revolve around changes to the Income Tax Act. They are also asking the government to “establish a grant or other funding source to directly support the development of the Space Resources Industry in Canada.” And lastly they are asking for new “legislation authorizing Canadian Companies to engage in the commercial recovery of space resources in a manner consistent with Canada’s international obligations.” They then cite the US, Japan and Luxembourg as making policy and legislative changes to support Canada’s action.
Interstellar Mining which as been around for several years, and is not associated with Canadian Space Mining or Lunar Water Supply Company, also put forward similar Income Tax Act changes as the others.
GHGSat put forward three recommendations outlined below including “that starting in Federal Budget 2022 the Government of Canada provides funding in the amount of $10-million per year over three years for a Canadian Earth Observation Data Acquisition (CEODA) pilot program.”
The FINA Committee is set to begin its first meeting on Monday, January 31 to speak with select organizations. Trolley told SpaceQ that none of their related organizations will present to the committee. They do however plan on doing so in the future.
Outlined below are the submissions from each organization along with their recommendations.
The Canadian Space Resources Association (CSRA) (PDF submission)
- Recommendation 1: That the Federal Government develop or assist in the development of a standard for disclosure to space resource investors, similar to NI 43-101.
- Recommendation 2: That the Federal Government establish a grant or other funding source to directly support the development of the space resources industry in Canada.
- Recommendation 3: That the Federal Government pass legislation authorizing Canadian Companies to engage in the commercial recovery of space resources in a manner consistent with Canada’s international obligations.
- Recommendation 4: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to include outer space (including the Moon, Asteroids, and planetary bodies) as a Foreign Jurisdiction for the purposes of Foreign Resource Expenses (FRE) as equivalent to Canadian Exploration Expenses (CEE) and Canadian Development Expenses (CDE).
- Recommendation 5: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to extend Flow Through Shares to Canadian companies engaging in mining in outer space (including the Moon, asteroids and planetary bodies).
- Recommendation 6: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to extend Mineral Exploration Tax Credit to Canadian corporations engaging in space resource exploration with specific intent to mine in outer space.
Canadian Space Mining Corporation (PDF submission)
- Recommendation 1: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to include outer space (including the Moon, Asteroids, and celestial bodies) as a Foreign Jurisdiction for the purposes of FRE (Foreign Resource Expenses) and FEDE (Foreign Exploration and Development Expenses).
- Recommendation 2: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to extend Flow Through Shares to Canadian companies engaging space resources (including the Moon, asteroids and celestial bodies).
- Recommendation 3: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to extend Mineral Exploration Tax Credit to Canadian corporations engaging in space resource exploration with specific intent to mine in outer space.
- Recommendation 4: That the government allocate a sufficient amount of capital in the budget for space resources companies, technologies, R&D and projects.
Lunar Water Supply Company (PDF submission)
- Recommendation 1: That the Federal Government officially designate one of Natural Resources Canada or the Canadian Space Agency (Under Innovation, Science, and Economic Development) as the Federal Department leading Canadian space resource efforts.
- Recommendation 2: That the Federal Government develop or assist in the development of a standard for disclosure to space resource investors, similar to NI 43-101.
- Recommendation 3: That the Federal Government establish a grant or other funding source to directly support the development of the space resources industry in Canada.
- Recommendation 4: That the Federal Government pass legislation authorizing Canadian Companies to engage in the commercial recovery of space resources in a manner consistent with Canada’s international obligations.
Interstellar Mining Inc. (PDF submission)
- Recommendation 1: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to include outer space (including the Moon, Asteroids, and planetary bodies) as a Foreign Jurisdiction for the purposes of Foreign Resource Expenses (FRE) as equivalent to Canadian Exploration Expenses (CEE) and Canadian Development Expenses (CDE).
- Recommendation 2: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to extend Flow Through Shares to Canadian companies engaging in mining in outer space (including the Moon, asteroids and planetary bodies).
- Recommendation 3: That the government amend the Income Tax Act to extend Mineral Exploration Tax Credit to Canadian corporations engaging in space resource exploration with specific intent to mine in outer space.
GHGSat Inc. (PDF submission)
- Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada commit to ongoing bulk procurements of Earth observation data and analytics from Canadian commercial satellite remote sensing companies as an anchor customer.
- Recommendation 2: That Canadian commercial Earth observation data and analytics procured per Recommendation 1 be made available free of charge to Canadian scientific researchers and non-commercial application developers as well as relevant Government of Canada departments to support their mandates (e.g. Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, etc.).
- Recommendation 3: That starting in Federal Budget 2022 the Government of Canada provides funding in the amount of $10-million per year over three years for a Canadian Earth Observation Data Acquisition (CEODA) pilot program, to be followed by an ongoing permanent data acquisition program that incorporates lessons learned from the pilot in order to implement Recommendation 1 and Recommendation 2.