The federal government seeks to reinvigorate Canada’s homegrown Candu reactor and sell more units abroad, according to a strategy for nuclear energy unveiled Monday.
In the document, dubbed the Nuclear Energy Strategy, the government said Canada could capitalize on a surge of global interest in nuclear power by bolstering the domestic supply chain for the Candu reactor, the Canadian-made technology used to build and operate nuclear-generating stations in the country since the 1960s.
However, the government emphasized that provinces that pursue new nuclear plants – the strategy wants 10 new nuclear-generating stations built in the coming decades – will decide which reactor technologies they wish to build, and mentioned other reactor designs, including Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 and GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300.
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Still, the Candu was singled out dozens of times in the strategy. The government said it would work to ensure its commercial viability and assess whether heavy water (a unique requirement for Candu reactors) should be produced domestically. And it set an export target of “at least four new international CANDU markets by 2040.”
Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said reactor safety requirements introduced since the 2011 accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station must be integrated into an updated Candu design, though other improvements have been introduced to Candus during mid-life overhauls.
“We will ensure Candu is a viable technology for the different provinces to choose from,” Mr. Hodgson said.
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The Candu was developed largely between the 1950s and the 1980s by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, a Crown corporation. The government still owns the intellectual property, but AECL’s reactor division was sold to AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. (formerly SNC-Lavalin) in 2011.
Although a series of new models, including the Candu-9 and Advanced Candu Reactor, were partially developed since the 1990s, those designs were never completed nor constructed. This left AtkinsRéalis without a finished large reactor design at a moment when more utilities have begun considering building nuclear power plants amid expectations of surging electricity demand.
AtkinsRéalis has reported that it has had a team of around 300 employees working for several years on an updated version of the 1980s-era Candu 850 reactor, which it has dubbed the Monark. A conceptual design had been drafted as early as 2024, and the company promised completion of preliminary engineering work as soon as 2027.
In its strategy, however, the federal government said it would ensure a cost-competitive Candu design would be completed by 2030. Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation are both currently shopping for large reactors for proposed plants in Ontario, known, respectively, as Bruce C and Wesleyville.
AtkinsRéalis chief executive Ian Edwards welcomed the strategy in a statement Monday, saluting Mr. Hodgson for demonstrating “clear leadership and foresight,” and describing the Candu as “the natural choice” for construction in Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta.
Grant Isaac, president and chief operating officer of Cameco Corp. (which owns 49 per cent of competing American reactor developer Westinghouse), said he was not concerned by the strategy’s preoccupation with the Candu.
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While Canada is justifiably proud of the technology, the strategy makes clear that there’s no Candu ready for deployment, Mr. Isaac said.
“The reference to the need to modernize it reflects the fact that there isn’t a design-ready – and therefore a deployment-ready – reactor to meet both the domestic as well as the global ambition." Mr. Isaac said.
In a commentary, the law firm Gowling WLG noted that while the strategy committed no major new financing, it still sends a message that Ottawa considers nuclear a national priority for the first time in decades.
“It does not include major new reactor funding or a large-scale federal investment package. That said, the announcement sends an important signal to industry and investors.”
Goran Calic, a strategic management professor at McMaster University, said the strategy’s commitment to streamline regulatory processes for nuclear projects was more important than any financial support it could offer. Although the document does not identify any concrete steps to do that, it sends a signal similar to the executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in May, 2025, which kicked off major reforms of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Prof. Calic said the NRC’s counterpart in this country, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, should become technology agnostic, and the federal government should avoid showing preference for reactor technologies.
“They shouldn’t select technologies,” he said. “And there is some language in this document that suggests Candu is being favoured.”
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Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce issued a statement Monday underscoring the importance the province places on nuclear power. However, he argued that Ottawa needs to put money behind its plan.
“The federal government must invest in the design of the Candu Monark to allow it to be considered for Ontario’s upcoming large-scale generation projects.”
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was skeptical that Mr. Carney’s government can get results.
“The fact that Liberals are again making big grandiose promises is not an achievement. We need to move from announcements to results,” Mr. Poilievre said at a press conference in Richmond, B.C., Monday morning.
In a statement, NDP Leader Avi Lewis said his party supports existing nuclear projects and the jobs they support. But he argued Ottawa’s focus should be on renewable energy sources that are less expensive and time-consuming to get online, compared with nuclear.
“Lower-tech solar, wind and battery storage have never been cheaper,” he said.
Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Mr. Carney was the chair of Brookfield Asset Management and the company’s head of transition investing. Because of those business ties, he has an ethics screen that prevents him from being involved in “any official matters or decision-making processes” that involve the company.
Brookfield co-owns Westinghouse and, as a result, the Prime Minister was not involved in the crafting of the nuclear strategy, Mr. Hodgson’s office said Monday.
“The Prime Minister has a robust conflict of interest plan in place and avoids participating in any discussions or decisions that could inappropriately benefit a company listed on his ethical screen. The Prime Minister has adhered to this plan at all times,” said spokesperson Charlotte Power.