The Province of Ontario is advancing almost 19,000 jobs at Bruce Power in support of the Bruce C Project.
The province has directed the power company to enter into a cost-sharing and recovery agreement, which enables Bruce Power to move forward with First Nations and community engagement, workforce planning, and site preparation planning.
The agreement is worth up to $300 million.
An announcement was made by Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines, on Thursday morning at the Bruce Power site.
“Today, our government is saying yes,” said Lecce. “We are moving forward with the Bruce C project in partnership with Bruce Power, with First Nations, and obviously, with the local communities to build this economy and get our supply chain going.”
Bruce Power added in a media release that the pre-development work includes ongoing readiness activities such as technology selection, workforce and commercial planning, estimating the cost of site preparation activities, developing cooling water strategies, community readiness, and Indigenous engagement in addition to continuing the Impact Assessment (IA) process.
“Nuclear is the long-term solution for our economy. Fifty percent of our baseload power, meaning the power that is always available to the families out there, to industry, and to the farmers, is nuclear power,” said Lecce.
In a community update from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation that was issued on Wednesday, the SON Joint Chiefs and Councils say that they have not made any decision on the project.
They add that while Bruce Power has proposed building four new reactors to the site, the power company, nor the provincial or federal governments have committed to respecting SON’s right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
The release also said that SON leadership is working to hold Bruce Power accountable to the standard before the project moves forward.
The SON Joint Council and the Environment Office are working diligently, they said, to protect their rights and responsibilities, which includes technical reviews, direct engagement with the Crown and Bruce Power, and a SON-led assessment process grounded in Anishinaabe law.
The Bruce C expansion is the first such expansion project at the Bruce Nuclear Power site in 30 years.
The proposed project would produce up to 4,800 megawatts, which is enough to power 4.8 million homes.
The project is expected to contribute $238 billion into the Canadian economy and create 18,900 jobs, of which 6,000 are permanent positions.