Bruce Power will be giving $2 million to the Town of Saugeen Shores so it can assess its level of readiness for growth if a third nuclear generating station is built in Tiverton.
It’s a similar deal to those announced last week with Bruce County and Kincardine. Saugeen Shores will see an allotment of $500,000 a year for four years.
Bruce County is taking the lead on looking at transportation in the first year with the money.
In Saugeen Shores, a work plan will be developed for each year in collaboration with Bruce Power.
For year one, staff recommend hiring a consulting company, they say in a report, “To act as the Town’s lead advisor and program manager in identifying, coordinating, and integrating municipal-focused studies related to the potential impacts of the Bruce C Project.”
In addition to that work outlined in the 2026 work plan, Town staff say another priority is the completion of an updated growth forecast study, alongside Bruce County and a consulting firm that will have projections associated with the Bruce C Project. It will look at population, jobs, and commercial and industrial growth forecasts.
The Town says that is also funded by Bruce Power through separate capacity funding.
Town staff say the growth forecast work will give specific recommendations for additional studies to support community readiness and long-term growth management. They say they will look at residential land supply, the housing market, and different housing types.
Meanwhile, staff say, “in addition to the readiness funding, the Town has been in discussions with Bruce Power to advance conversations on a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) framework.”
Bruce Power is exploring the possibility of adding up to 4,800 megawatts of additional nuclear generation capacity at its nuclear site in Tiverton. Among other nearby communities, Saugeen Shores and Kincardine are the home base for many of the workers both temporarily and long-term. There are also numerous nuclear supply chain companies in the area.
If the population is to grow rapidly, there will be a need for more housing, infrastructure, school spaces, healthcare and numerous other services to support the influx of people.