Department of Finance Canada announced a $115 million loan for the Ekati Diamond Mine through the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility.
The loan is intended to help the Northwest Territories mine continue operations during a period of trade uncertainty, low global diamond prices, inflation pressure, and supply-chain bottlenecks.
Finance Canada said the diamond sector employs more than 1,000 Northerners and contributes close to 20 per cent of the territorial economy.
Ekati's local economic role was a central part of the announcement. In 2024, the mine employed 208 Northern Indigenous workers and invested $210 million in Northern Indigenous businesses.
The Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility was announced in March 2025 as a $10 billion financing facility managed by Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation, a subsidiary of Canada Development Investment Corporation.
Finance Canada also described changes to the facility. The minimum annual revenue requirement was reduced from $300 million to $150 million, the minimum loan size from $60 million to $30 million, and loan maturity was extended from five years to seven years.
The facility also requires companies to prioritize worker retention. That condition connects the financing support to jobs and community stability rather than only to corporate liquidity.
The measure is not a tax credit, but it is a public-finance response to tariff and trade pressure. It shows how federal lending facilities can be used when tariff exposure threatens a major employer and regional supply chain.