Lu Fan is a 2025 Sachedina / CTV News fellow. This is part one of a two-part series on the graphite mine in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Que.
SAINT-MICHEL-DES-SAINTS, Que. - The small village of Saint-Michel-des-Saints is situated on the southern border of an immense boreal forest, about two hours north of Montreal. The Matawin River runs around it.
Fewer than 3,000 people live here, but it is also home to a project on Canada’s nation-building list. After more than a decade of exploration and searching for financing, the Matawinie Graphite Mine has begun construction. Like many rural communities, Saint-Michel-des-Saints is grappling with an aging population and shrinking job opportunities. People here are banking on the mine to bring back prosperity.
“I was born here and I’ll die here,” said Mélanie Charette, the manager of a hotel in the village. “We need (a stronger) economy.”
But whether this major project will succeed will not only depend on the resources beneath the land, but on larger forces beyond the control of the village.
Speaking to us in French and before the construction started, Mario Venne, the mayor, said his village is privileged to have resources such as graphite, a mineral essential for the modern economy and used in electric vehicle batteries.
Venne, 60, was elected in November. He wears a grey sweater with the village logo on it. “I got 73 per cent of the vote,” he said proudly.
An oil painting on his office wall — a sawmill with logs floating by in the foreground — speaks to the community’s first industry.
“Forestry was what populated the village. Then tourist attractions. The potential of thousands of lakes with thousands of kilometres of roads.”
Micheline Charette, a cheerful 70-year-old resident, visited the project site on a tour. She welcomes it as long as it strictly respects environmental regulations. She said the village’s best times were about 30 years ago. “The whole village was working in (forestry), three shifts.”
In 2006, a wood panel mill closed. More than 300 jobs were lost at the time. The mayor said the local sawmill still provides economic security for the village. But it runs at a slower pace now because of U.S. tariffs. “Mr. Trump, sorry to mention his name. But he’s the person that is messing things up.”
The Prime Minister’s Office says the Matawinie Mine “will create more than 1,000 new jobs from engineering to the skilled trades” and attract nearly $2 billion in investment into the economy.
It’s also expected to have a role in defence applications along with battery supply chains. Around the world, countries are fighting to secure critical minerals to power their economies and militaries. They are widely used in cellphones, electric vehicles, AI data centres and even fighter jets.
Graphite has long been used in steelmaking. Now it’s also used to make the anode — the negative side of a battery that stores and releases energy. Battery anode materials now account for almost half of global graphite consumption.
In Saint-Michel-des-Saints, a signpost with a battery on it indicates the head office of Nouveau Monde Graphite, the developer of the Matawinie Mine project and owner of the graphite deposits in the area. It’s headquartered on the village’s main street, along with a church, the municipal office, and a few stores.
Resident Philippe Joyal said he heard some villagers bought the company’s shares. He is also thinking about it as he believes the project is going well.
Mayor Venne had been in office for about two weeks when the major projects announcement came. “It was huge hearing we’re one of the six national projects,” said Venne. “I was at my first MRC (regional county municipality) meeting. The media called nonstop. It put Saint-Michel-des-Saints on the map.”
Most villagers I spoke to support the mine and the jobs it could bring to the community, while some cottage owners in the area oppose the project over environmental concerns.
Dmitri Kharitidi is a cottager and one of the founders of the Coalition of Opponents to a Mining Project in Haute-Matawinie. He said he understands the economy is important, but “it’s a lack of vision of the potential impact of the mine.”
Kharitidi said the economic driver in the past decades for the village is actually the cottagers. Attracted by this wild nature, they’ve been buying land and building houses. “The region grew because of that,” he said. “It’s a significant inflow of money.”
But because of the mining project, Kharitidi said some of his neighbours have left the region. He said his parents bought the property about 15 years ago. They planned to spend their retirement in the village. “Selling is a hard conversation that we will have to have,” said Kharitidi. “I don’t know if we want to move… because my family loves the place.”
Mayor Venne has been supporting the project. He said he will “get hit over the head” if there are environmental issues.
For now, he’s more focused on the potential benefits than potential risks. He hopes the project could bring a larger population and attract more businesses. “We are going to tell them there is a lot of demand. (Maybe) for a sushi buffet, or a McDonald’s.”
Like some of his friends, the mayor has children studying away from home. “We all dream that they will return to the village in the future,” he said. “They are going to be able to settle… in the village if there are all the services that they need. That’s what is important.”
Nouveau Monde Graphite has also built a bike trail. “I went to walk it myself. It’s a trail that others will envy,” said the mayor. He hopes the bike trail could attract tourists and even international competitions.
“Even if Nouveau Monde disappears, (the bike trail) will not go away,” he said. “And I hope the mine is built to stay too.”
