NUCLEAR ENERGY STRATEGY IS A WIN FOR WORKERS, THE ECONOMY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, SAYS SOCIETY OF UNITED PROFESSIONALS

Federal plan will create tens of thousands of high-quality union jobs, expand a made-in-Canada supply chain, and keep Canada's clean energy grid on track for net-zero 

TORONTO, June 22, 2026 /CNW/ - The Society of United Professionals ("the Society") applauds the federal government's release today of Canada's Nuclear Energy Strategy, calling it the most significant federal commitment to nuclear workers and clean energy in a generation. 

The Strategy, released by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson, sets out an ambitious plan to expand domestic nuclear capacity, grow Canada's global nuclear exports, secure the uranium fuel cycle, and invest in Canadian-owned CANDU technology. The Society, whose members are engineers, analysts, physicists, project managers, and other professionals at Ontario Power Generation, Bruce Power, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and other leading nuclear employers across Canada, has long called for exactly this kind of bold, coordinated national action. 

"This Strategy commits to doubling the existing current nuclear workforce of 90,000 and, critically, it names unions as partners in developing the training and experiential learning programs that will get workers into those jobs," said Society President Rebecca Caron. "Our members have spent careers building the world-class nuclear sector that makes this Strategy possible. The Society looks forward to partnership opportunities that allow us to help transfer the skills, knowledge, and experience of our members to the next generation of workers." 

The Society is particularly pleased to see a clear commitment to Canadian CANDU technology. The Strategy commits to ensuring a modernized, cost-competitive CANDU design available by 2030, growing the CANDU export market by targeting at least four new international CANDU markets by 2040, and requiring any province choosing a foreign-controlled reactor technology to demonstrate a credible plan for managing supply chain risks and energy sovereignty. The Society strongly endorses that accountability mechanism.  

The supply chain commitments are among the Strategy's most consequential elements. Canada's more than 250 nuclear supply chain companies will benefit as Canada builds more CANDU. The Strategy goes further, committing to actively rebuild domestic capabilities in heavy water production, heavy forgings, and nuclear-grade alloys, capacities that have eroded over decades. Rebuilding them is sound industrial policy and strengthens our economic sovereignty. The Society will advocate strongly for ensuring these assessments lead to real investment. 

"Nuclear energy is the backbone of Ontario's clean electricity grid, and it must be the backbone of Canada's net-zero future," said President Caron. "This Strategy connects good union jobs to a cleaner environment and protects Canadians from energy price volatility by keeping generation clean, reliable, and Canadian-owned. We're building something that belongs to Canadians, employs Canadians, and will power Canada's economy for the next fifty years." 

The Society also welcomes the Strategy's commitments to advancing Canada's world-leading Deep Geological Repository for spent nuclear material and to expanding meaningful Indigenous economic participation, including equity partnerships and direct employment in the nuclear workforce. 

The Society looks forward to working with the federal government, provincial partners, employers, and Indigenous communities to implement this Strategy and ensure its workforce and supply chain commitments deliver lasting benefits for nuclear workers across Canada.

About the Society of United Professionals

Founded more than 80 years ago by engineers who wanted better working conditions, the Society of United Professionals now has members in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Today, the Society represents 12,000 professionals in the energy and legal sectors. Among the organizations United Professionals' members work for are Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One, Bruce Power, Independent Electricity System Operator, Legal Aid Ontario, NWMO, the City of Saskatoon, Toronto Hydro, Electrical Safety Authority, Ontario Energy Board, National Judicial Institute, Aboriginal Legal Services, TSSA and Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.

The Society of United Professionals is Local 160 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and is affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress, Ontario Federation of Labour, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, and many local labour councils.

SOURCE Society of United Professionals

Media contact: Jeremy Johnston-Kaye, Communications Officer, 416-553-3516, [email protected]