Tens of thousands of jobs could be created in growing sector in Durham and Ontario

While Canada’s economic growth hasn’t been as robust as residents would hope, a series of announcements regarding the growing nuclear energy sector has left many industry experts optimistic–and a brand new consortium of academic institutions is hoping to help fill positions as they come. 

Late last month, five Ontario post-secondary institutions–Centennial College, Durham College, Georgian College, Humber Polytechnic and Ontario Tech University–announced they were forming the new Canadian Clean Energy Workforce consortium to meet Canada’s growing demand for clean energy and nuclear workers. 

The news emerged after the Canadian Nuclear Association’s 2026 conference in Ottawa wrapped up, and shortly after the province announced that a 2.1-million-pound Basemat module for the Unit 1 SMR was lifted and installed at the Darlington New Nuclear Project site, which is located in the Durham Region municipality of Clarington.

In a news release, the consortium said its objective is to craft a coordinated workforce development strategy that includes the design, delivery and scaling of education and training programs to prepare students for careers across the nuclear and renewable energy sectors. 

With Canada aiming to transition to a clean energy economy, industry insiders estimate that, beginning in 2030, close to 40,000 new workers will be required across the sector to support new builds, refurbishment, and the broader clean energy transition. 

“In Ontario, there are a number of institutions that have interacted with the nuclear sector. The challenge we have now as the province invests in nuclear refurbishments is that the job growth is massive,” Francis Syms, the coordinating clean energy lead for the CCEW and head of the School of Clean Energy and associate dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology at Humber,” tells INsauga.com. 

With many current workers slated to reach retirement age within the next 10 years, Syms says the consortium can collaborate to determine which jobs will need to be filled and develop programming to train an emerging workforce. 

“Bruce Power needs 3,000 people by 2030, and what we hear about Darlington and the region around Port Hope is that there’s probably going to be 20,000 to 30,000 jobs created over the next 10 years,” he says, adding that not all of those jobs will be exclusively in the nuclear or even scientific field. 

The CCEW said the growing industry will need skilled trades workers, as well as nuclear operations and small modular reactor support workers and cybersecurity and digital infrastructure experts. The industry also expects to create more jobs in renewable energy systems, microgrids and smart grids and AI. 

In a news release, the CCEW said that while post-secondary program development can take years to move from concept to scale, the coordinated approach is intended to accelerate program development and responsiveness. 

“The formation of the CCEW is an important first step in aligning five post-secondary institutions around a coordinated new model of collaboration focused on shaping Canada’s clean energy workforce,” Dr. Elaine Popp, president of Durham College, said in an email to INsauga.com

“The focus at this early stage is on creating an operational workplan informed by engagement with industry to help address long-term workforce needs in clean energy and nuclear sectors, particularly in skilled trades and technical occupations. This phase is about building a foundation that will support future collaboration and program development.” 

Ultimately, the goal is to make sure companies can hire skilled workers quickly. 

“Our focus with the new consortium is a coordinated pipeline to figure out where they’re going to get people to work in their sector,” Syms says. 

“We can say you need 100 people next month in this area, and this is how we’ll deliver in a coordinated way. It’s industry-aligned training at speed and scale. We can only deliver if we’re effectively coordinated.”

Syms says the industry will require a variety of tradespeople, including boilermakers, electricians, machinists, pipe fitters, radiation technologists, safety technicians, and more. As the sector enters the digital age alongside other industries, there will also be jobs for tech experts. 

The industry could also create jobs in fields such as security, policy, governance, and human resources. 

Popp says Durham College is well-positioned to connect employers with skilled workers.

“Our strength is in hands-on, career-ready education aligned with labour-market demands, and strong employer partnerships,” she says. 

“Durham College stands out for its close ties to the nuclear industry, its ability to deliver hands-on, applied training across both engineering technology and skilled trades, and its unique strengths in areas like non-destructive evaluation. Our NDE programming provides hands-on training in industry-relevant techniques – a critical capability for the nuclear sector – directly supporting workforce needs in operations, refurbishment, and new builds.”

Syms says the industry is unique in offering a diverse range of job opportunities, particularly for college and polytechnic students.  

“In all levels, there are jobs for people. What colleges and polytechnics are good at is stackability. If you’re in a trade but want to become a nuclear operator, you can transfer to a degree program over time,” he says.

Syms also says that while there will be ample job opportunities in Durham, the consortium can help connect employers and workers across the country. 

“We need these workers across Canada. People who learn at home can help in Saskatchewan or Alberta to build nuclear. We want to take the excellent work that’s been done in Ontario and franchise it and build it across the country and export it across the world,” he says, adding that the province has 50 years experiencing growing its nuclear sector. 

Ontario’s experience also makes it ground zero for international interest and study, a place where people from not just Canada but the globe can come to learn more about nuclear energy development and best practices. 

“We’re leveraging the talent we built here at home in Ontario,” Syms says, adding that nuclear projects are being studied in both Saskatchewan and Alberta, especially as data centre growth places strain on the existing power grid. 

Nuclear could offset pressures on existing infrastructure, experts say. 

In a news release, the Ontario government said that once complete, the Darlington New Nuclear Projects’ four SMRs will produce 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power 1.2 million homes.

“One large data centre consumes as much power as one of the SMRs we’re building. Power could be generated through nuclear or fossil fuels, but the grid can’t supply the power that data centres need,” Syms says. 

“An SMR that we’re building would provide 300 megawatts of power.” 

Since the industry can create jobs across various fields, Syms says a full supply chain can be developed. 

“This can transform a whole community and Ontario. The whole world looks to Ontario as a leader in nuclear. Now is the moment everyone wants nuclear; every few weeks, a different country is visiting the reactor,” he says, adding that companies from Poland, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia have visited the province’s nuclear sites. 

“There’s such a huge opportunity for Canadians to lead; we’ve been doing this for 50-75 years, this is something that the rest of the world needs.”