“Canada’s first small modular reactor will not simply add electricity to the grid. It will add confidence to the future of clean, reliable, Canadian-made energy.” – MJ Martin
Canada’s first commercial SMR is expected to enter operation by 2030 at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Ontario, subject to construction completion, regulatory approval, fuel loading, commissioning, and grid synchronization.
So, it is getting close to operational status but we are not there yet in stark contrast to some recent social media reports.
Introduction
For more than a decade, small modular reactors have been discussed as a technology of the future. They have appeared in policy papers, energy forecasts, engineering conferences, and climate strategies as a promising answer to the challenge of producing reliable, low-carbon electricity. In Canada, that promise is now moving from planning into construction. Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington New Nuclear Project is positioned to become one of the most important nuclear developments in the Western world, with the first GE Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor planned for the Darlington site east of Toronto.
From Promise to Project
The Darlington project matters because it represents a shift from theoretical ambition to physical infrastructure. In April 2025, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission authorized OPG to construct one BWRX-300 reactor at the Darlington New Nuclear Project site. One month later, the Province of Ontario approved the start of construction for the first of four planned SMR units. Each unit is expected to produce about 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve roughly 300,000 homes, depending on demand and operating conditions.
Why the BWRX-300 Matters
The BWRX-300 is designed around a simple but powerful idea: reduce complexity to reduce cost, schedule risk, and construction difficulty. Unlike traditional large nuclear plants, small modular reactors are intended to use standardized designs, repeatable construction methods, and more compact site layouts. The BWRX-300 is a boiling water reactor design developed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, and its smaller size is intended to make nuclear power more scalable for provinces, utilities, and industrial users that may not require a massive multi-gigawatt station.
Reliability in a Changing Grid
Ontario’s electricity system is changing quickly. Demand is expected to rise as transportation, buildings, and industry electrify. At the same time, more renewable energy, storage, and distributed generation are being added to the grid. Wind and solar power are valuable, but they are variable. Nuclear power provides firm, dispatchable, non-emitting electricity that can operate through winter peaks, cloudy days, calm nights, and periods of heavy industrial demand. That is why SMRs are being viewed not as competitors to renewables, but as partners in a cleaner and more reliable grid.
A Canadian Template
The significance of Darlington extends beyond Ontario. Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and other jurisdictions are watching SMRs closely as potential tools for coal replacement, industrial decarbonization, and long-term energy security. Internationally, Canada’s progress is being followed because it may provide a practical model for licencing, financing, building, and operating the next generation of nuclear plants. The project is also expected to support Canadian jobs, nuclear supply chains, skilled trades, engineering services, and domestic energy sovereignty.
Summary
Canada’s first SMR has not yet gone online, but the Darlington project has already crossed a major threshold. It has moved from concept to licenced construction, making Canada a serious leader in Western SMR deployment. The real milestone will come when the first BWRX-300 is completed, licenced to operate, synchronized with the grid, and delivering clean electricity to Ontario. When that day arrives, Canada will not simply have built a reactor. It will have helped build the operating model for a new nuclear era.
About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees – in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven major certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 80 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) [aka Micro Learning] continuous education programs in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Power BI, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.
Martin in a volunteer, a photographer, a learner, a technologist, a philosophizer, and a romantic optimist.