How Ontario’s Nuclear Sector is Driving Economic Growth and Transforming Cancer Care

Ontario’s nuclear sector is doing more than powering homes—it’s elevating the province’s economic strength, infrastructure readiness, and global healthcare leadership. At our recent Ontario as a Clean Energy & Isotope Superpower event, leaders from Bruce Power and industry experts gathered to explore Ontario’s unique assets and future pathways, focusing on clean energy, strategic infrastructure, and medical isotopes.

Essential Insights

Clean Energy as an Economic Driver: Ontario’s clean, low-carbon grid is an economic advantage, attracting industries and strengthening the province’s role as a key trade and manufacturing partner.
Proactive Infrastructure Planning: Building tomorrow’s energy infrastructure requires early investments, strong partnerships with Indigenous groups, and careful planning to minimize future project risks.
Global Leadership in Medical Isotopes: Ontario’s pioneering work in radiotheranostics is revolutionizing cancer treatment, enabling more targeted therapies and quicker patient recovery, all produced locally.

Clean Energy Advantage in Trade and Manufacturing

Ontario’s clean grid stands out in North America, offering a low-carbon advantage that supports its role as a competitive player in global trade and manufacturing. James Scongack, Chief Operating Officer of Bruce Power, shared how Ontario’s clean energy profile positions Ontario as an attractive destination for advanced manufacturing.

material relies on trade with without trade we are we would not be successful as an economy whether it's our salt mines our Auto plants uh you name it and when you compare Ontario to all of these US states that we trade with you'll see Ontario right up at the top there and this is carbon intensity CO2 equivalent grams per kilowatt hour 28 that's compared to our our closest trading partner Michigan 475 compared to California 164 you know and we can go through the the entire list the point is is that the advantage Ontario offers from a manufacturing perspective from a trading perspective is a clean electricity system and that comes from as Giles noted 55 to 60% nuclear 25% hydroelectric 5 to 8% wind and solar and some degree of natural gas which as the minister says we use as an insurance policy and that's important to have but it puts this in perspective when people talk about clean energy where do we Stack Up

Planning for Future Energy Demand

Chris Benedetti, Managing Partner at Sussex Strategy Group, and James Scongack emphasized Ontario’s energy future depends on proactive investment in planning, community engagement, and site preparation. By addressing regulatory and community concerns early, the pair believe Ontario can avoid delays and lower project costs, ensuring the infrastructure needed to support economic growth is ready when demand peaks.

how do we move forward to meet the needs of customers because those seem to be changing rapidly we need to start investing now in planning and prep we need to start advancing now in early engagement with First Nations with communities the sighting work uh the the procurement activities we need to start with that and and to me that's the step that needs to be taken so the consequence of that will be down the road we're going to realize we need this and we won't be starting fromp scratch but what also mean is we may Advance more options than we actually need and we have to get comfortable that that's a that's a good investment to take and in and in fact what it will do is it will reduce the final cost of the projects because what is it that is the greatest challenged energy projects it's regulatory it's permitting it's Community acceptance and if we can if we can deal with those risks upfront we're in a much different risk profile

Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment with Medical Isotopes

Ontario’s nuclear sector leads in producing medical isotopes—radioactive substances essential for diagnostics and treatments—particularly in the field of radiotheranostics. As Melody Greaves of the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council explains, Ontario is a global leader in this field, exemplifying how nuclear power can drive healthcare innovation worldwide.

chemotherapy and surgery have traditionally been the way that we tackle many cancers um and these things will continue to be essential in in a patient's treatment Journey but radiotheranostics offer the possibility of having a targeted treatment that delivers harmful radiation directly to a tumor site without harming the surrounding tissues which is truly amazing science when you think about it in terms of what that can do for a patient and how uh targeted that treatment can be radiother ICS allow a patient to often go home from the hospital that same day reducing the need for a long long Hospital stay and radiotheranostics allow a patient to get back to their lives their jobs and their families much quicker than many other traditional treatments do so I hope that this discussion today inspires us all to invest resources and efforts uh to minimize delays to treatment and to to truly expand patient access to these revolutionary drugs and devices um that are produced right here in Ontario um which once again is is a major strength that Ontario really needs to to do better at at singing its own Praises in this in this space

Ontario as a Clean Energy & Isotope Superpower

Ontario’s nuclear sector is a cornerstone of the province’s economic and healthcare ambitions, uniquely combining clean energy, innovative infrastructure, and medical breakthroughs. The Board will continue its advocacy work around maximizing Ontario’s nuclear potential—championing policies that drive infrastructure investment. If you’re interested in the clean energy sector, please join us at our upcoming event:

Upcoming Summit

Two engineers walking amongst solar panels.

Powering our Climate & Energy Economy

11 AM - 5:30 PM

30 JAN 2025 The Quay - 100 Queens Quay East, 3rd Floor, Toronto In Person

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