Ontario lays foundation for first new nuclear reactor in decades

Ontario Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce speaks at the PDAC (Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada) conference at Toronto’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre on March 3, 2026. Photo by Peter J Thompson/National Post

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A heavy-duty crane on the north shore of Lake Ontario earlier this month picked up a 2.1 million-pound object resembling a giant bottle cap and laid it at the bottom of a 35-metre shaft to form the foundation of the province’s first new nuclear reactor in decades.

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Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce has billed the project as the Western world’s first small modular reactor and said it is part of his plan to turn the province into an energy superpower.

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Ontario is betting nuclear power can satisfy the province’s own surging demand for electricity — expected to grow two per cent per year for a decade and by 75 per cent in total by 2050 — and fuel economic growth if the province can export its expertise in the technology.

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“Ontario just executed with great precision the first foundation of a new nuclear reactor in Ontario in over 30 years,” Lecce said in a statement. “This is a major achievement.”

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He has set a 2030 target to complete construction of the first of four 300-megawatt nuclear reactors located at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. The other reactors are expected to come online in the mid-2030s, with a total estimated cost of $20.9 billion.

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Nuclear power has fallen in and out of favour for a variety of reasons, including the meltdowns in Fukushima, Japan, and Chernobyl, Ukraine, and the health and environmental consequences that followed. A long history of cost overruns and construction delays on nuclear projects also deterred interest.

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But Lecce said Ontario can complete nuclear projects “on time and on budget.”

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Earlier this year, the province completed a $12.8-billion refurbishment of its four 878-megawatt reactors in Darlington, months ahead of schedule, $150 million under budget and at a cost far below what some expected. Although the reactors will require billions of dollars of continued investment, they are online and generating electricity.

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A $13.8-billion refurbishment of the Bruce nuclear station is also underway and a $26.8-billion refurbishment of Ontario’s nuclear reactors in Pickering is moving ahead. There are also plans to build more nuclear reactors.

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Lecce has said nuclear is the best option from a cost and risk perspective, citing the Independent Electricity Systems Operator’s view on the new nuclear reactors at Darlington.

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“Nuclear’s advantage is wide-ranging — delivering 24/7 firm power that is made-in-Canada, with over 90 per cent of the supply chain built here at home,” he posted on Facebook earlier this month.

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Others, including financial advisory firm Lazard Inc., have said renewables are cheaper, but Lecce has said the costs of renewables rise when you include the cost of land and batteries.