An Interview with TSX COO Robert Peterman
Ahead of the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, the 2026 TSX Venture 50 has landed with a clear message about where early-stage Canadian capital is concentrating.
While global headlines continue to be dominated by artificial intelligence models, platforms and applications, this year’s Venture 50 ranking is overwhelmingly resource-driven. Of the 51 companies recognized, 48 are in the mining and resource space. Just three are technology issuers.
It is a striking divergence from the dominant narrative in U.S. markets, where AI software, semiconductor firms and hyperscale cloud providers command the spotlight. In Canada’s early-stage capital markets, however, raw materials once again take centre stage.
Yet the story is more complex than a simple “old economy versus new economy” divide.
The future of AI hardware (chips, data centres, power systems, connectivity and advanced manufacturing) begins with metals and minerals. It ends somewhere very different, in software stacks and algorithms. But the first link in that chain is physical.
Critical Minerals at the Core
Among the ranked miners, many are focused on precious metals such as gold and silver, which continue to dominate valuations in uncertain economic environments. But the list also includes companies targeting critical minerals foundational to modern technology supply chains.
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. is advancing rare earth element processing infrastructure. Rare earth elements are essential for high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles, defence systems and advanced electronics. In 2025, the company secured funding to scale a rare earth separation facility.
Standard Lithium Ltd. is focused on lithium projects, a metal central to batteries that support electrification and data-centre energy storage.
The three technology names that broke through, including Volatus Aerospace Inc. and Quantum eMotion Corp., reflect interest in defence, aerospace, cybersecurity and quantum innovation. But as a whole, the ranking signals that capital is flowing first to the physical inputs that make advanced technologies possible.
AI and quantum systems run on chips and superconductors. Those chips run on metals. And the supply of critical minerals has become both a geopolitical and economic imperative.
A Five-Year Shift Toward Resources
The Venture 50’s evolution over the past five years illustrates a structural shift.
In 2022, the ranking reflected all major Venture Exchange sectors under a category-based methodology, with technology, clean tech, energy, diversified industries and mining companies each earning top positions.
By 2025, a methodological change collapsed sector categories into a unified ranking. Thirty-one mining companies occupied the top spots, though technology, clean technology and life sciences maintained meaningful representation.
In 2026, mining dominates decisively: 48 of 51 companies are in the resource space. Over this period, mining has not only led performance — it has reabsorbed a greater share of capital markets’ attention, while technology and other innovation sectors have receded significantly in relative ranking.
This underscores how early-stage capital on the TSX Venture Exchange has concentrated behind commodity exploration and critical minerals, even as broader innovation narratives like AI and quantum dominate headlines elsewhere.
As one observer put it: “we are still hewers and drawers.”
The question is whether that reflects strategic strength — owning the inputs to the digital economy — or whether early-stage leadership in AI products and platforms is consolidating elsewhere.
Q+A with Robert Peterman, Chief Commercial Officer, TSX & Global Capital Formation
To better understand the shift, B2B News Network interviewed Robert Peterman, Chief Commercial Officer, TSX & Global Capital Formation by email.
B2BNN: How much does the dominance of mining/raw materials diverge from past lists?
Peterman: In 2025, both the TSX Venture 50 and the TSX 30 lists saw a heavy amount of mining companies. The changing geopolitical dynamics of 2025 put a more acute emphasis on the mining sector and the structural scarcity of many key commodities including precious metals and critical minerals. However, neither list was dominated to the same extent as this list, partly because as the shortages in critical minerals and precious metals became more pronounced, it has become more urgent to discover and develop those resources.
B2BNN: What does this tell us about Canadian investment comfortable with known (commodity) vs unknown (end tech) potential?
Peterman: The investment we are seeing into junior mining companies is not necessarily of the ‘known’ sort, as these are companies focused on discovery and development, as opposed to mature companies who are taking metals and minerals from existing operations. That approach does signal comfort with risk among investors, who understand the demand for these commodities makes that unknown investment potentially worth it in the current environment where demand for natural resources is rising.
B2BNN: Is the forecast for future lists expected to be dominated by commodities too?
Peterman: Markets are cyclical. It’s impossible to predict the future but the shortfalls that have brought about this cycle of investment in commodities is real, and so is the need to discover and develop new mining operations. There are several long-range factors that are at play over a multi-year timeline: The projections for commodities driven by things like data centres for AI or electric vehicles are projected years into the future. We also know that the typical timeline to develop an operating mine is typically 10 to 15 years. It’s reasonable to expect this investment theme to last for five to ten years.
B2BNN: Why is Canada the exception to global markets dominated by AI? Has our initial market leadership expired?
Peterman: We did see AI driving the TSX30 list in 2025 with companies like Celestica and Hammond Power connected to the growth of that category. The TSX Venture 50 looks at the top performing companies on the exchange during the 2025 year across three equally-weighted indicators: market capitalization growth, share price appreciation, and Canadian consolidated trading value. This year the dramatic growth and return on investment in the mining sector outperformed most other industries, including technology companies focused on AI. The technology sector, however, was notably the only other industry to appear on the list, with three technology companies included amongst the 51 companies on this year’s list. It’s also worth noting that the substantial natural resources needed to power the advancement of AI are in short supply and the demand to scale AI platforms is likely driving the investment in junior mining companies downstream.
A Structural Map of Comparative Advantage?
The Venture 50 may ultimately serve as a structural map of where Canadian early-stage capital believes its comparative advantage lies in the AI and quantum era.
While U.S. markets concentrate on model builders and platform consolidators, Canadian junior markets appear to be backing the upstream material backbone of the digital economy. The open strategic question is whether owning the inputs provides durable leverage — or whether value creation will accrue primarily to those building the systems that sit on top.
In the meantime, the capital is clear about one thing: before there are models, there are minerals.
