Nickel prices have experienced volatility in the past few years due to supply and demand uncertainty.
While demand has been consistent, prices have been mainly influenced by structural oversupply stemming from high output from Indonesia, which rapidly increased output in recent years to become the world’s top nickel producer.
Low prices led several companies to curtail production in 2024 and 2025, and ultimately prompted Indonesia to lower its mining quota in February. While prices haven’t recovered, they stabilized above US$15,000 per metric ton through the second half of the year.
Demand from the electric vehicle (EV) industry is one reason nickel’s outlook looks bright further into the future. Battery nickel demand is poised to triple by 2030, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
In Canada, nickel is listed as a top priority in the government’s Critical Minerals Strategy. The country is the world’s fourth largest producer of nickel, with much of its production coming from mines in Ontario’s Sudbury Basin.
Against that backdrop, how have Canadian nickel stocks performed in 2025? Below are the top nickel stocks in Canada on the TSX, TSXV and CSE by share price performance so far this year.
All year-to-date and share price data was obtained on October 28, 2025, using TradingView’s stock screener. Canadian nickel stocks with market caps above C$10 million at that time were considered.
1. Nickel Creek Platinum (TSXV:NCP)
Year-to-date gain: 390.2 percent
Market cap: C$13.98 million
Share price: C$2.50
Nickel Creek Platinum is an exploration and development company advancing its flagship Nickel Shäw project toward production.
The property, located in the Yukon, Canada, consists of 711 mineral claims and 91 quartz mining leases covering a total area of 14,650 hectares. Mineralization at the property was first discovered in 1952, with historic mining operations being carried out between 1972 and 1973.
A mineral resource estimate included in a 2023 prefeasibility study demonstrates a measured and indicated nickel resource of 2.47 billion pounds from 436.7 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 0.26 percent nickel. It also holds an inferred resource of 668 million pounds of nickel from 114.02 million metric tons grading 0.27 percent.
Nickel Creek is planning for a 2026 drill program at Nickel Shäw, and stated the next step is a feasibility study. To fund the program, on October 29 the company opened a non-brokered private placement for 465,000 common shares at C$2.30 per share, for total proceeds of up to C$2 million.
It also said the company’s largest shareholder, Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund, signaled its intention to invest up to C$800,000 in the funding round. As of May, Electrum held a 49.85 percent stake in Nickel Creek.
Shares in Nickel Creek Platinum reached a year-to-date high of C$3.86 on October 13.
2. Talon Metals (TSX:TLO)
Year-to-date gain: 358.82 percent
Market cap: C$463.15 million
Share price: C$0.39
Talon Metals is a nickel exploration and development company working to advance its Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota, US, toward production.
The project is a joint venture with Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO). Talon currently holds a 51 percent interest in the property, but under the terms of the deal, it has the option to increase its stake to up to 60 percent.
The 20,348 acre property, located west of Duluth, Minnesota, was initially surveyed in 1972 but didn’t see significant exploration until the early 2000s, when several significant mineralized zones were discovered.
In November 2022, Talon released a mineral resource estimate, reporting an indicated resource of 8.56 million metric tons with an average grade of 1.73 percent nickel, and an inferred resource of 8.46 million metric tons grading 0.83 percent.
The company is currently working to produce a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), and noted on October 20 that it had received a 12 month extension from Rio Tinto to complete the PEA as part of the earn-in agreement. Talon said the extended deadline will allow it to better time the release with the environmental assessment required to advance the project.
Talon’s share price has increased significantly on a series of discoveries throughout the year, with the most recent results coming on August 6 when Talon reported the third intercept of massive and mixed massive nickel mineralization at Tamarack’s recently dubbed Vault Zone.
In the release, the company reported an assay grading 14.86 percent nickel over 34.9 meters from a depth of 762.34 meters, and just 26 meters northwest of its previously announced drill hole containing an 8.25 meter intercept grading 12.62 percent nickel.
The company is also the operator of the Boulderdash nickel-copper discovery and numerous high-grade nickel-copper prospects in Michigan, for which Talon entered option agreements for Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN,OTC Pink:LUNMF) to acquire a 70 percent interest in the group of projects in early March.
On October 1, the company announced it would expand drilling operations at Tamarack’s Vault Zone during the fall and winter as it transitions away from Boulderdash. It expects to resume drilling in Michigan in 2026.
Shares in Talon reached a year-to-date high of C$0.54 on October 14.
3. Homeland Nickel (TSXV:SHL)
Year-to-date gain: 240 percent
Market cap: C$17.9 million
Share price: C$0.085
Homeland Nickel has a portfolio of nickel projects in Oregon, US: Red Flat, Cleopatra, Eight Dollar Mountain and Shamrock.
In addition, the company holds investments in mining companies with nickel projects, including Benton Resources (TSXV:BEX,OTC Pink:BNTRF), Canada Nickel Company (TSXV:CNC,OTCQX:CNIKF) and Noble Mineral Exploration (TSXV:NOB,OTCQB:NLPXF).
In early April, the company released an exploration update for its properties, reporting it was planning a drill and bulk sample program at Red Flat, had scheduled a sampling program at Eight Dollar Mountain and proposed a shallow drill program at Cleopatra.
Several months later, on July 17, Homeland shared results from its Eight Dollar Mountain sampling program, with assays for all 56 samples indicating the presence of nickel laterite, with values ranging from 0.21 to 2.21 percent nickel with an average of 0.67 percent nickel.
Then, on August 18, the company reported the US Forest Service approved its plan to drill 44 sonic holes at Red Flat.
The release also noted that it had staked several mining claims at Woodcock Mountain, which is located in the same geological area as Red Flat, Cleopatra and Eight Dollar Mountain, but lies outside the withdrawal area, which Homeland said makes it easier to permit. The company said it would push its exploration work across all four properties to define resources.
In its most recent operational update on October 7, the company said it had entered into a preliminary agreement with Brazilian Nickel to jointly advance financing and development of Red Flat, Cleopatra, Woodcock Mountain and Eight Dollar Mountain.
Homeland said the plan is to collaborate and to leverage Brazilian Nickel’s expertise in laterite heap leach technology and will work with the company on technical studies and project development strategies.
Shares in Homeland reached a year-to-date high of C$.10 on August 19.
4. Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSXV:PGE)
Year-to-date gain: 208.33 percent
Market cap: C$90.94 million
Share price: C$0.37
Stillwater Critical Minerals is an exploration and development company advancing its flagship Stillwater West nickel project in Montana, US.
The property hosts 14 multi-kilometre-scale exploration targets and boasts 32 kilometers of strike length that adjoins the adjacent Sibanye-Stillwater mine property. A mineral resource estimate released in January 2023, shows an inferred nickel resource of 1.05 billion pounds from 254.8 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 0.19 percent. The project also holds platinum group elements, copper, cobalt and gold.
In late March, the company reported multiple large-scale magmatic sulfide targets following analysis of a property-wide third-party MobileMtm magneto-telluric geophysical survey completed in late 2024.
The data from the survey was also used to build a new 3D geological model of the lower Stillwater Igneous Complex that the company used to further prioritize targets at Stillwater West for its 2025 drill campaign.
In June, the company mobilized for a new drill program focused on the advanced project areas, while testing adjacent targets identified using the 3D model.
In the most recent update from the program, released on September 15, Stillwater noted that it had completed over 3,100 meters in its 2025 campaign and was working on the fifth and sixth holes. It plans to use results from the program, combined with other drill data, to support an updated mineral resource estimate in the first half of 2026.
Shares in Stillwater Critical Minerals reached a year-to-date high of C$0.57 on October 8.
5. SPC Nickel (TSXV:SPC)
Year-to-date gain: 100 percent
Market cap: C$14.72 million
Share price: C$0.04
SPC Nickel is an exploration company working to advance a pair of projects in Nunavut and Ontario, Canada.
Its Muskox property is a copper, nickel and platinum group metals exploration project in Nunavut, consisting of 26 mining claims and two prospector permits covering a total land area of 49,600 hectares. Mineralization at the site was first identified in the 1950s.
On July 21, SPC announced it would be carrying out a property-wide 1,000 line kilometer MobileMT electromagnetic geophysical survey at Muskox that will be used to develop a 3D model, which SPC says will be instrumental in identifying large conductive regions.
In an exploration update released on September 17, the company said its summer exploration program had advanced the geologic understanding of the mineralization system present on the property, and that the MobileMT survey was the most thorough and modern survey ever flown at the site.
The program also included 85 surface samples, which it has submitted for assaying. Once it has assessed the data from the program, the company plans to move quickly to define drill targets to determine the grade and scale of the project.
The company is also working on its advanced stage Lockerby East project near Sudbury, Ontario.
A mineral resource estimate for the project from March 2024 demonstrates an indicated in-pit resource of 179.1 million pounds of nickel from 19.23 million metric tons with an average grade of 0.42 percent nickel and an out-of-pit resource of 45.7 million pounds of nickel from 3.24 million metric tons grading 0.64 percent from the West Graham target.
It also shows an additional 17.2 million pounds of nickel from 665,000 metric tons grading 1.17 percent at the LKE deposit.
The most recent news from the project came on October 23, when the company announced it started a 1,000 meter drill program at the site designed to test anomalies located down-dip from the LKE deposit.
FAQs for nickel investing
How to invest in nickel?
There are a variety of ways to invest in nickel, but stocks and exchange-traded products are the most common. Nickel-focused companies can be found globally on various exchanges, and through the use of a broker or a service such as an app, investors can purchase companies and products that match their investing outlook.
Before buying a nickel stock, potential investors should take time to research the companies they’re considering; they should also decide how many shares will be purchased, and what price they are willing to pay. With many options on the market, it’s critical to complete due diligence before making any investment decisions.
Nickel stocks like those mentioned above could be a good option for investors interested in the space. Experienced investors can also look at nickel futures.
What is nickel used for?
Nickel has a variety of applications, including stainless steel, coins and lithium-ion batteries. Its main use is an alloy material for products such as stainless steel, and it is also used for plating metals to reduce corrosion. As for coins, its uses include the 5 cent coin, named the nickel, in the US and Canada; the US nickel is made up of 25 percent nickel and 75 percent copper, while Canada’s nickel has nickel plating that makes up 2 percent of its composition.
Nickel is also used in certain lithium-ion battery compositions, bringing demand from sectors like electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Where is nickel mined?
The world’s top nickel-producing countries are primarily in Asia: Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia make up the top three. Rounding out the top five are Canada and China. Indonesia’s production stands far ahead of the rest of the pack, with 2024 output of 2.2 million metric tons compared to the Philippines’ 330,000 metric tons and Canada’s 190,000 metric tons.
Significant nickel miners include Norilsk Nickel (MCX:GMKN), Nickel Asia, BHP (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) and Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF).
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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