Ontario unveiled this month that it is investing a staggering $1 billion toward building “a more competitive, resilient, and self-reliant economy.”
Specifically, the Province confirmed that it is committing $1B through the Building Ontario Fund to support what will be the first small modular reactors in the G7.
Originally announced earlier this year, the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Bowmanville will create approximately 18,000 jobs during the constriction phase and then nearly 4,000 jobs during operation, all while contributing an estimated $38B to Canada’s gross domestic product over the next 65 years.
Premier Doug Ford described the bold move as “a down payment on Ontario’s nuclear energy future.”
Ford stated that the Province is “building the energy infrastructure—including both SMRs and new, large-scale nuclear—needed to make Ontario an energy superpower.”
The provincial funding is being supplemented with an additional $2B in federal capital supplied through the Canada Growth Fund.
Prime Minister Mark Carney commented “this is a generational investment that will build lasting security, prosperity, and opportunities.”
“The Darlington New Nuclear Project will create thousands of high-paying careers and power thousands of Ontario homes with clean energy,” Carney said.
Construction began in May, and the first reactor is slated to come online in 2030.
“Now is exactly the time to be building big, creating thousands of jobs, and investing in the Canadian nuclear supply chain,” posits Stephen Lecce, who serves as the province’s Minister of Energy and Mines. “Ontario’s leading the largest nuclear expansion on the continent, anchored by the G7’s first SMR being built at Darlington.”
Ontario is also exploring multiple new nuclear energy generation projects to build for the future, according to a statement from the government.
Such projects unlock “new investment opportunities in the province’s energy sector and will boost competitiveness, drive job creation, and support innovation across the industrial base,” suggests Building Ontario Fund chief executive officer Michael Fedchyshyn.