Canada unveils first nuclear strategy to expand builds and uranium output

Canada’s first national nuclear strategy put a 2050 workforce target, a uranium push and a four-pillar expansion plan on the table, but the sharpest near-term milestone is already tied to Darlington: a licensed BWRX-300 build and a record Indigenous financing deal.

Released on June 22, 2026, the strategy lays out a federal effort to expand nuclear builds, increase uranium production and strengthen the domestic supply chain. Natural Resources Canada organized the plan around four pillars: enabling new builds across Canada, becoming a global supplier and exporter of choice, expanding uranium production and nuclear fuel opportunities while supporting long-term waste management, and developing new Canadian nuclear innovations.

Ottawa is framing the push around an existing base that already matters in the electricity system. The government says nuclear provides about 13 percent of Canada’s power supply and contributes about $22 billion a year to the economy through 17 operating CANDU reactors at home and servicing nine reactors abroad. Canada’s role reaches into Romania, India and South Korea, giving the strategy an export dimension as well as a domestic one.

The workforce numbers are the other hard commitment in the document. The strategy targets doubling the nuclear workforce by 2050, while Natural Resources Canada says about 30 percent of the sector’s current workforce is expected to retire within the next decade. The department also says global demand for nuclear skills could require roughly 1.1 million new personnel by 2050, a figure that underlines how much the plan depends on training, retention and a larger pipeline of engineers, trades workers and project managers.

On the build side, Darlington is the clearest project with real milestones attached. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission issued Ontario Power Generation a construction licence on April 4, 2025, for the first BWRX-300 reactor at the Darlington New Nuclear Project site in Clarington, Ontario. The broader DNNP proposal covers up to four reactors at the existing site, making it the most concrete near-term test of whether the strategy can translate policy into concrete.

That test now includes money. On June 23, 2026, Canada announced a $715 million Indigenous loan guarantee to support seven First Nations taking part in the Darlington project, linking reactor development to ownership, financing and regional benefits. Saskatchewan, the country’s only domestic uranium producer, also welcomed the plan, which keeps the fuel side of the industry in the same frame as new builds and export ambitions.

For all the language about energy superpower status, the strategy’s real value will be measured by whether it turns those pillars into mines, fuel services, trained workers and reactors. Darlington is where that starts to look tangible.