Indigenous-led partnership restarts Hamilton biodiesel plant

HOPA Ports and the Mississaugas of the Credit Business Corporation on June 25 launched Biidaaban Renewable Energy, a 51 percent Indigenous-owned venture to restart Hamilton’s biodiesel plant. The facility at Pier 14 at the Port of Hamilton will return to service later this summer after final preparations and commissioning.

The new company is backed by a memorandum of understanding between HOPA Ports and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and Biidaaban has finalized the long-term lease covering the land, building and equipment. Biidaaban, meaning a new day, reflects both the plant’s renewal and a long-term stewardship model built around Indigenous majority ownership.

The former Biox plant has operated on port lands for more than two decades, converting used cooking oil, animal fats and seed oils into biodiesel. The site has seen more than $70 million in investment, carries a production capacity of 67 million litres a year and supports 33 direct jobs and 134 indirect jobs. HOPA Ports and the Mississaugas of the Credit Business Corporation project more than 70 jobs across the region.

The Port of Hamilton location gives the operation direct access to inbound feedstock handling and outbound fuel distribution. In September 2025, HOPA was taking action to keep the biodiesel plant operating on port lands rather than losing the asset to permanent closure.

Ontario’s Cleaner Transportation Fuels regulation requires that, in 2026 and every later compliance period, at least 75 percent of the average adjusted volume of bio-based content in diesel and blended diesel be produced in Canada. At the federal level, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations are intended to reduce the carbon intensity of gasoline and diesel while supporting low-carbon fuels and sustainable jobs.