Canada bets on nuclear: up to 10 new reactors and doubled uranium exports by 2040

Canada’s energy minister Tim Hodgson unveiled a national strategy to build up to 10 new nuclear reactors over 15 years, expand exports of Canadian-made Candu reactors, and double uranium exports. The plan frames nuclear as essential to doubling the country’s grid capacity by 2050 and reaching a low-carbon economy. Concrete milestones include starting two large-scale reactors by 2035, five more planned or under development by 2040, at least one reactor under construction outside Ontario, and a domestic microreactor finalized by 2035 for deployment to a remote community by the late 2030s.

The price tag could exceed $100 billion, and the strategy is notably vague on financing, gesturing only at the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Canada Growth Fund. A geopolitical thread runs through the document: reactor exports are pitched as multi-decade partnerships and a foreign-policy lever, with a goal of entering four-plus new markets by 2040. Candu’s selling point is that it runs on unenriched uranium, positioning Canada as an alternative supplier as Western allies move away from Russian-enriched fuel. As a fallback, the plan floats boosting domestic enrichment if export sales fall short.

The announcement carries political friction. Prime Minister Mark Carney was walled off from developing the strategy by his ethics screen, since his blind-trust holdings in Brookfield—a competitor to Candu—create a conflict. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed the plan as promises without results and called for repealing what he termed anti-development laws and depoliticizing the nuclear regulator. A separate proposal to shift nuclear impact assessments to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission remains stalled amid pushback from environmental and Indigenous groups.