AtkinsRéalis: Strengthening Canada’s Nuclear Supply Chain

Candu Energy, an AtkinsRéalis company, is reinforcing Canada's position as a global leader in nuclear infrastructure through the expansion of its Preferred Vendor Agreements (PVAs) with two additional key suppliers: Hitachi Energy and Nu-Tech Precision.

These agreements form the cornerstone of Candu Energy's procurement strategy: one focussed on building strategic supplier partnerships, ensuring domestic value creation and derisking the nuclear supply chain for decades to come.

By integrating these preferred vendors into its CANDU nuclear supply chain, Candu Energy now works with a network of 11 proven partners dedicated to performance, innovation and reliability – ensuring that projects remain on schedule and within budget whilst solidifying Canada's reputation in advanced nuclear engineering.

Building strategic partnerships for long-term success

"These agreements are a win-win for the Canadian nuclear sector," says Joe St. Julian, President, Nuclear, AtkinsRéalis.

"By providing preferred partner companies with Canadian operations a stable, predictable stream of business and simplifying the purchasing process, we will accelerate the development of CANDU reactors while further reducing costs and execution risk."

Through these PVAs, Candu Energy is embedding strategic supplier collaboration into its procurement framework. Each participating vendor now works closely with the company's engineering and project delivery teams, ensuring greater transparency, continuous improvement and early supplier involvement in design and production.

This model emphasises long-term sourcing relationships rather than transactional contracting – aligning suppliers with shared targets for cost efficiency, innovation and schedule performance. Procurement's role as a strategic function is clear: these agreements are designed to reduce execution risk, stabilise costs and safeguard critical supply continuity across the CANDU reactor programme.

Strengthening Canada's domestic manufacturing capacity

The growing number of PVAs brings measurable economic and supply chain benefits. Since 2024, Candu Energy has issued more than CAD$2.35bn (approx US$1.7bn) in procurement contracts across in excess of 500 companies, of which 90.5% were awarded to Canadian suppliers.

This localised sourcing approach not only strengthens domestic manufacturing capacity but also reinforces Canada's industrial sovereignty in nuclear systems development – a decisive advantage amid ongoing global supply chain volatility.

Among the latest partners, Hitachi Energy – a world leader in electrification and transformer technology – is investing CAD$140m (approx US$101.6m) to expand its Varennes, Quebec facility. The project will create more than 70 skilled jobs whilst supporting Candu's long-term supply programme for nuclear-grade transformers.

Powering economic growth and job creation across the sector

According to a 2024 Conference Board of Canada study, the manufacturing, engineering and construction of a four-unit CANDU nuclear facility would generate roughly CAD$41bn (approx US$ 29.7bn) in GDP, create over 20,000 full-time equivalent roles and deliver 324,000 person-years of employment.

Throughout operations, a single plant could contribute nearly CAD$50bn (approx US$36.2bn) in GDP over its lifecycle and produce CAD$29bn (approx US$21bn) in cumulative tax revenues for municipal, provincial and federal governments.

Candu Energy's own workforce expansion illustrates the sector's momentum: since 2024, the company has hired more than 1,250 new employees and expects to reach 2,700 staff by the end of 2025. Across the industry, 89% of nuclear jobs in Canada are classified as high-skill positions, fuelling a knowledge-based economy centred on technical expertise and advanced engineering.

Procurement as a driver of national resilience

As the only nuclear technology designed, manufactured and serviced entirely within Canada, CANDU reactors depend on a mature, 90%-domestic supply base supporting approximately 89,000 jobs.

By localising its procurement strategy and aligning long-term vendor relationships, Candu Energy ensures greater supply chain resilience and compliance – from mining natural uranium fuel to delivering completed reactors.

AtkinsRéalis' Canadians for CANDU initiative, launched in 2024, continues to promote the deployment of Canadian technology at home and abroad, with leadership from Jean Chrétien and Mike Harris. To date, 38 organisations representing organised labour, education, Indigenous communities and industry have joined as ambassadors.

Through these strategic sourcing and partnership initiatives, Candu Energy is not only building reactors – it's building the foundation for a self-reliant, innovative and sustainable Canadian supply chain that will power the country's clean energy future.