Giles Gherson - Remarks - The Nuclear Advantage: Turning Canadian Innovation into Economic Leadership

Good afternoon.

It’s a great pleasure to be with you today.

At The Toronto Region Board of Trade, our purpose is to be the voice of business in this region, representing the needs and aspirations of our 11,500 members.

And of course, our region is consequential – the epicentre of our nation’s economy

On behalf of our members, our mission is laser focused:  boosting productivity, competitiveness and growth.

For the Toronto Region, as with the rest of Canada, energy is core to our ability to achieve those 3 objectives.

The IESO projects that our energy demand will jump 100% by 2050 — far higher than the 60% increase projected just two years ago.

GO Transit electrification alone will add demand equivalent to powering Kingston.

Despite the recent sales dip, there is little doubt that electric vehicles are on a long term path to becoming the norm. 

Data centres — needed to fuel the ongoing explosion in artificial intelligence and cloud computing — already multiplying across our region are voracious consumers of energy.

So, the drive to electrification is imposing real and mounting pressures on our energy grid. 

A challenge that is very real, immediate, measurable, and urgent.

Decisions made today to address that challenge will have a profound impact on prosperity and quality of life in this region for the next generation. 

We have no choice but to get this right.

All the more so in the face of Trump's aggressive trade policy and tariffs, posing significant danger to our economy at least in the near term. 

Our region's — and our country's — energy security has gone from being simply a strategic advantage to an economic imperative.

Bottom line: now is the time to build the next generation of our electricity grid.

The good news is, the Ford government at Queen’s Park agrees—and is fully on board.

So, what does doubling the size of our energy grid look like? 

And who benefits from the billions of dollars in investment?

The Productivity Crisis

Let me come back to that in a moment.

First, and I want to be clear: Canada faces a productivity crisis. 

And an acute one at that.

To fix it, we need to reverse a couple of decades of severe underinvestment in our region’s, and our nation’s, aging productive capacity.

The Toronto region itself trails the average of eleven U.S. major metropolitan centres by a whopping $99,000 CDN per worker. 

You heard that right—a $99,000 per worker output gap.

And it’s widening.

What does that mean?

It means we are becoming relatively poorer than our neighbours to the south.

Put another way, our kids’ future prosperity is at risk.

As I mentioned, the underlying reason: for decades now, we have been seriously underinvesting in growth — new plants, up-to-date equipment and technology adoption — compared to the US.

We’re also badly falling behind our G7 and OECD peers in productivity — again, the output we generate per worker.

Shockingly, our productivity growth in the coming decades is actually projected to be dead last in the OECD. 

And dead last is dead wrong.

Then, on top of all this, we have Trump's trade war, which clearly has the potential to make an already bad situation worse. 

Certainly, the imposition of U.S. tariffs has rudely exposed our economic vulnerabilities for all to see.

Make no mistake. The U.S. is playing hardball.

And, after just 9 months, we’re starting to see the fallout.

Our trade deficit is widening. 

We lost 30,000 manufacturing jobs in a single quarter.

Too many companies are heading south to expand behind the safety of the US tariff wall.

In the auto sector, Canadian suppliers are now being directed they are even being nudged by U.S. OEMs to move production south of the border if they want to have contracts.

These companies – some of our best – are leaving with the capital investment we sorely need deployed here at home to narrow and ultimately close the productivity gap. 

Here's the thing: if we are serious about reversing this slide, we need to make hard choices about lifting our own productivity.

And we need the capital to do it.

Recently, our CEO-led Business Council of Toronto — a coalition of the leaders of leaders in Toronto’s business community — focused on turning around our productivity —  stepped up with a new rallying cry: stronger starts here.

Because, as we all know, the Toronto Region is the heart of Canada’s economic engine. 

A stronger Canada can start with the public and private sectors in our region building together.

But it has to start here. 

And it has to start now.

And the choices we make in energy are going to be key.

Energy Security

Sufficient supply of reliable, affordable energy will be the cornerstone of our productivity push, our national economic revival, and our arrival as a global energy superpower.

Yes, it’s costly to build too much.

But it’s ruinous to build too little.

We know Ontario must double the size of its grid over the next 25 years. 

A grid that has taken us 100 years to build to its current capacity.

So, there is a real need for speed.

And yet, energy projects take decades to plan, license, and build.

So we have to get going.

And in today's world, and looking forward, the risk of not being fully self-reliant in energy is too great. 

Certainly, we can’t rely on the United States.

Not when the current administration apparently sees Canada as a competitor, not a partner.

This doesn’t mean we abandon any relationship with the United States. 

For many reasons, including geographic proximity and scale of market, they will remain a critical trading partner.

But the reality is - they have become unreliable when it comes to collaboration on major infrastructure projects.

One example: Just last month, the U.S. cancelled billions in offshore wind projects with the Danish company Ørsted — pulling the rug out from a project in Rhode Island that was already 80% complete.

Even closer to home, EchoStar’s sudden cancellation this week of its $1.3 billion contract with Canada’s MDA Space for low-orbit satellites.

A contract that was re-routed to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The point is this: In the new world order, the U.S. is all about self sufficiency.

For Canada, as still the 9th largest economy in the world, that’s a pathway that is open for us too.

Let’s start with energy.

We know that nuclear provides clean, 24/7 baseload.

Our home-grown CANDU technology has a 60-year safety record that is second to none.

And it has a feature no other reactor design can claim: it can be refueled while operating — like refueling a plane in mid-air.

That means maximum uptime, maximum reliability, and maximum efficiency.

The fuel supply is produced right here in Canada - CANDU reactors run on natural uranium, without the need for costly enrichment, reducing costs.

They also produce cobalt-60, a medical isotope that Canada exports to the world to sterilize equipment and treat cancer.

Few technologies provide not just electricity, but life-saving tools for the global health system.

And this isotope opportunity is also an investment story.

By 2033, radiotherapeutics alone are projected to reach $27 billion globally. With CANDU technology, Canada controls a critical input to that value chain.

If we make the right choices, we can turn that scientific edge into new facilities, new investment, and new jobs — building productivity here at home instead of watching it slip away.

Keeping Capital at Home

Too often, Canadian dollars leave our borders.

As a result, manufacturers who operate in Canada lack the certainty to invest in the technologies they need to maximize their productivity.

CANDU represents one critical piece of the puzzle in addressing both challenges.

Here's why: volume of orders matters. 

A stable, continuous pipeline of work allows firms to invest in modern equipment, new facilities, and workforce training. 

Without it, manufacturers fall behind.

Look at the experience in Ontario's transit car manufacturing. 

Relying on episodic, one-off projects rather than a steady stream of procurements from across the country means there isn’t the volume to justify major investments in new production technologies that would lower cost and enable global competitiveness. 

The result? A cycle of under-investment, uncertainty, and lost productivity.

It’s an all too familiar story — and it costs us dearly.

Nuclear can be different. The refurbishment and new build cycle for CANDU creates steady, predictable demand.

That stability allows suppliers to scale, to invest, and to innovate. 

It means stronger supply chains, higher productivity, and Canadian firms that can compete — not just here at home, but on the world stage.

Consider the scale of what is before us.

Every CANDU 6 reactor represents a multi-billion-dollar investment — $10 to $15 billion per unit.

Refurbishments, like the ones at Bruce, Darlington, and soon Pickering, cost about $3.2 billion each, and extend reactor life for another 30 years.

They are long-term capital investments that enhance our productive capacity. 

Generating stations that support people and businesses for a hundred years.

The Darlington refurbishment alone will deliver $89.9 billion in GDP.

A new station at Wesleyville would add $235 billion to Ontario's economy over 95 years.

It's clear that building new large-scale nuclear reactors generates tens of billions in GDP, tens of thousands of jobs, and billions in tax revenue.

This is growth in productive capacity made visible. 

And unlike in other industries, these dollars largely stay here.

At Darlington, 96% of refurbishment spending is being spent in Ontario.

Nearly 90% of CANDU supply contracts go to Canadian firms.

In the 18 month period ending in June of this year, AtkinsRéalis has placed $2 billion in orders with Ontario suppliers.

And I saw what that looks like first hand.

I was just at CANDU’s Sheridan Park research, development and manufacturing hub where I saw the precision engineered and high value-add component parts that go into a nuclear refurbishment and rebuild.

CANDU 6 fuel channel assemblies with Calandria tubes made in Ontario by Coburg’s Cameco Fuel Manufacturing.

Pressure tubes from Nu-Tech Precision Metals in Arnprior.

Steam generators from BWXT in Cambridge.

Fuel handling automation from Promation in Oakville.

That means steel from Hamilton, engineering from Mississauga, and automation from Oakville.

All together more than 230 suppliers in Ontario.

This is not abstract. 

These are real contracts and real jobs supporting real communities across our region.

It is capital driving action — building better machines, better systems, and better processes to allow Canadian workers to compete at the highest level.

Unlike so many sectors where capital leaks abroad, nuclear provides an opportunity to keep capital at home.

That's what a productivity agenda looks like.

Jobs and Workforce

Every nuclear build, every refurbishment, sustains thousands of high-value, well-paying jobs.

Darlington's refurbishment has supported about 14,000 jobs annually across the province.

Bruce Power currently employs 4,200 people in a variety of operational roles, but the build-out and long-term operations of Bruce C will create even more opportunity.  

At Wesleyville, projections are for 10,500 jobs across Ontario, with 1,700 in Port Hope alone — a 20% boost for that community.

These are the jobs that raise productivity: engineers, machinists, technologists, welders, electricians.

These are jobs that build human capital, foster innovation, and retain talent in Canada. 

Today, there are already 90,000 Canadians working in and around the CANDU ecosystem.

And because a CANDU 6 is a 100-year asset, the work does not end after construction. 

Refurbishments effectively rebuild reactors from the inside out — sustaining demand for decades.

Each refurbishment cycle is another generation of skilled work, keeping wages high and skills sharp. Few industries offer that continuity.

Canadian Leadership

CANDU is one of the last advanced technologies Canada still owns.

Canada has a history of breaking new ground in technology — and then watching those advantages slip away. 

The lightbulb was invented in Toronto. 

The Avro Arrow was once the most advanced jet interceptor in the world. 

BlackBerry defined the smartphone. 

Nortel pioneered LTE, the basis for telecom innovation.

But time and again, we have failed to nurture those breakthroughs into enduring, global leadership. 

We sold companies off. 

We ceded control. 

We allowed other companies located in other places to leapfrog us.

We haven’t got the habit of supporting our champions.

And with it, we lost the high-value jobs, the Canadian companies with global reach, the intellectual property, and the long-term productivity gains.

CANDU gives us a chance to reverse that story.

For once, Canada doesn't just participate in someone else's technology, or play host to a short-term boom. 

We designed it. 

We own it. 

We have proven it. 

And it still commands respect worldwide—decades later.

If we walk away now, we will repeat the mistakes of the past.

But if we double down, we can finally build on a Canadian innovation — not just to solve our energy challenge, but to anchor a globally competitive industry for decades to come.

CANDU is Proven and Reliable

Today, 31 CANDU reactors are in operation or being refurbished in countries around the world.

CANDU has a record of seven consecutive international projects — in Korea, Romania, and China — completed on schedule and on budget.

But this isn't just a tried-and-true technology. 

CANDU is a record-shattering technology:

• Romania's Cernavoda Unit 2 has had a lifetime capacity factor of 92% — setting the world record for producing closest to its theoretical capacity.
• The Bruce Power site is the world's largest operating nuclear station.
• Darlington unit 1 set the world record for most consecutive days of continuous operation by a nuclear station at 1,106 days.

This is global productivity leadership in action.

That's why Romania is building two more CANDU reactors.

It's why Canadian officials are engaging with countries across Europe, including growing economies like Poland.

It's why countries in Southeast Asia are exploring partnerships with Canada so that CANDU can support their nuclear futures.

When Canada builds at home, we both meet our own energy supply needs and demonstrate to the world the leadership we're capable of.

We show the world that Canada can deliver complex, capital-intensive projects.

And unlike other industries, this is a uniquely Canadian calling card.

CANDU is proven. 

We know how to build it. 

We have done it before.

And unlike so many nuclear projects around the world, we have delivered on time and on budget.

That is not common — it is extraordinary.

Across the global nuclear sector, cost overruns and multi-year delays have become the norm.

But Canada’s track record is different. 

Industrial Policy & Productivity

There’s been a lot of talk lately about defense industrial policy which has been a long time coming.

Now, we also need to be talking about energy industrial policy and the impact that could have.

Canada's productivity gap is the central economic challenge of our time, and — as I’ve said — I believe CANDU is part of the solution.

Large, capital-intensive projects expand productive capacity.

They allow firms to invest in better machines, better processes, better training and, I hope, next-gen technology.

They modernize supply chains. They encourage innovation.

Choosing a homegrown technology that can be built here and supported here at home will empower suppliers across our region to make the investments that deliver economic benefits for decades to come. 

They sustain workforces that grow more skilled over time.

And because nuclear unfolds as a continuous program of builds and refurbishments, it provides the steady volume that drives continuous improvement and long-term productivity growth.

This is precisely what Prime Minister Carney means when he speaks about unleashing capital expansion.

It is what Premier Ford means when he calls for made-in-Ontario solutions.

And it is what Canada desperately needs after decades of losing advanced industries.

Nuclear is one of the last globally competitive technologies we still own. 

We cannot give it away.

Closing

So what's at stake?

When we build CANDU at home, we don't just keep the lights on.

We keep billions of dollars here.

We create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.

We sustain a great, home-grown globally competitive technology – all too rare. 

And above all, we strengthen our productivity — the foundation on which prosperity is built.

When we build CANDU at home, we also reinforce our role abroad.

Romania. Poland. And yes, China.

They see in Canada a partner with proven technology, a skilled workforce, and a record of delivery.

This is not just about energy security.

It is about building a more competitive, more prosperous economy.

And it is about restoring Canada's confidence that we can lead—in energy, in industry, and in innovation.

Let's not give this away.

Let's back our own.

Thank you.