The Ring of Fire could contribute $9.4 billion to the GDP over its first decade, concludes a new report.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce report also predicts 5,500 jobs created every year in that time frame, part of the reason it says the Ring of Fire needs to be a priority for all government.
But it also says development up North has been moving at a glacial pace and the provincial and federal governments need to step up in order to get things moving, that's why the report also makes 13 recommendations to make that happen.
Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson said the report could be a great way for development in the North to get on the business radar in Southern Ontario.
"There still a lot of people outside of the North who have no idea what it is," she said.
Key recommendations include both levels of government to committing to infrastructure funding and giving the province's recently announced development corporation what it needs to deliver.
Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said infrastructure and how to access minerals in the North is a key priority for the development corporation.
"That's the most important decision that we're going to make," he said.
As for funding, he has been speaking with MP Greg Rickford and the province is looking for more information about the federal government's Building Canada plan.
"We expect the federal government to be an equal partner," he said.
Rickford said the federal government is waiting for the province to outline its infrastructure priorities but there are strong signals that the Ring of Fire is one.
"Hopefully in the next few months we'll be able to sit down and work through that process," he said.
As for partnering through the development corporation, that will have to wait until the policies and framework of the corporation is finished. The province recently announced that Deloitte LLP has been contracted to complete that work.
"I think in fairness we're going to take a look at those documents once they become available," Rickford said.
Rickford said past provincial announcements, like in 2012 when Sudbury was named as Cliffs Natural Resources' choice for a ferrochrome processing facility, might have been putting the cart before the horse when it comes to infrastructure discussions in the North.
"That may have set up a discussion around infrastructure that was maybe a bit premature," he said.
