Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario has awarded 14 contracts to companies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) to supply components for construction of the first small modular reactor (SMR) in the G7 at the Darlington New Nuclear Project.
The contracts will generate more than $110 million in economic activity for Ontario, supporting manufacturing jobs and creating opportunities for companies supplying transformers, pumps, specialized steel and other critical components.
Oakville-based Hooper Welding will supply steel for structural modules and Toronto-based St. Mary’s Cement will supply concrete and operate a high-density concrete batch plant for the project.
The Darlington project will initially include one 300-megawatt GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor. OPG is planning four units at the site, with a combined capacity of 1,200 megawatts, enough to supply electricity to approximately 1.2 million homes.
Construction, operation and maintenance of the four units are expected to contribute $38.5 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product over 65 years.
About 3,800 skilled jobs are expected over the same period. It has also worked with OPG to ensure 80 per cent of project spending goes to Ontario companies.
Contracts have been awarded to 12 GTHA companies supplying critical components, including pumps, transformers and specialized steel. These contracts will add more than $110 million to Ontario’s GDP, create good-paying jobs and sustain hundreds more, while opening new markets for tariff-impacted sectors and strengthening Ontario’s nuclear supply chain.
The 12 recipients include:
- Northern Transformer, based in Maple, has been awarded a contract for $4 million to provide power transformers essential for increasing the voltage of electricity produced by the reactor, supporting good-paying jobs in the region.
- St. Marys Cement, based in Toronto, has been awarded contracts totaling $50.2 million to supply concrete and operate a high-density concrete wet batch plant for the DNNP, creating 19 new good-paying jobs in the region.
- Curtiss-Wright Nuclear Canada, based in Newmarket, has been awarded an $8.9 million contract to provide airlocks, specialized entry systems that allow workers and equipment to safely move in and out of the facility, supporting good-paying jobs in the region.
- Promation, based in Oakville, has been awarded a contract for $3.9 million to provide a Fine Motion Control Rod Drive (FMCRD) platform, creating four new good-paying jobs in the region.
- Smith & Long, based in Markham, has been awarded a contract for $14.6 million to provide temporary and permanent electrical power systems to support construction of the DNNP, creating seven new good-paying jobs in the region.
- WillScot, based in Gormley, has been awarded a contract for $10.7 million to provide a construction island trailer complex to support on-site teams working to deliver the DNNP, creating 25 new good-paying jobs in the region.
- Hooper Welding, based in Oakville, has been awarded a contract for $1.7 million to supply steel for the Diaphragm Plate Steel Composite (DPSC) modules used in construction of the DNNP, supporting good-paying jobs in the region.
- Aquatec, based in Maple, has been awarded a contract for $1.7 million to provide wastewater treatment services for the DNNP, supporting good-paying jobs in the region.
- Armstrong Fluid Technology, based in Toronto, has been awarded a contract for $3.9 million to provide pumps and pumphouse enclosure for the DNNP, supporting good-paying jobs in the region.
- ASI Marine, based in Hamilton, has been awarded a contract for $9.2 million to assist with tunnel-boring machine operations, supporting good-paying jobs in the region.
- Clyde Union Canada (Celeros Flow Technology), based in Burlington, has been awarded a contract for $300,000 to supply a pump and pump motor for the DNNP, creating 15 new good-paying jobs in the region.
- Arkbro Industries, based in Mississauga, has been awarded a contract for $1.6 million to supply a gantry tower for the transformer yard at the DNNP, sustaining good-paying jobs in the region.
Construction continues to advance at OPG’s DNNP, with major milestones achieved, including the placement of the 2.1-million-pound reactor basement, the first new nuclear foundation laid in Canada in more than 30 years. Work is also progressing on the reactor and turbine buildings, as well as the infrastructure required to support all four planned SMR units.
OPG has said 80 per cent of project spending goes to Ontario companies, anchoring the economic benefits of this generational investment in the province and supporting thousands of workers, skilled trades and manufacturers.
