📈 Going nuclear

Good morning! 💐 Did you do something nice for your mom this Mothers Day? So did millions of other Canadians. According to a recent survey, nearly half of the country planned to spend up to $50 on Mother’s Day. The top spending categories were flowers, food, alcohol, candies and restaurants.

Canadian mothers are also getting the gift of clean, reliable power thanks to billions of dollars worth of nuclear work being done. Get all the details below in this week’s Big Story.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 10:40 PM ET May 15th, 2023.

Markets: The world’s largest gold producer is making a play for B.C. Newmont Corp. signed an agreement this month to take over Australia’s largest gold company, Newcrest Mining Ltd., for about US$19.5 billion. Newmont was already developing two copper-gold deposits in the region. The deal will see it will inherit the Red Chris and Brucejack mines that produce gold, silver and copper.

THE BIG STORY

Canada leads the way for nuclear power

While wind, solar and hydro power projects are helping move the country away from fossil fuels, billions of dollars are being poured into something smaller. Much much smaller: splitting atoms.

Big power: According to the World Nuclear Association, about 15% of Canada's electricity comes from nuclear power. The country’s facilities also produce life-saving medical isotopes that are used around the globe to diagnose and treat heart disease, cancer and more.

Billions in work: Some of the country’s largest and most important facilities are currently undergoing enormous upgrades while still generating power.

• Ontario’s Bruce Power, the world’s largest operating nuclear facility is in the midst of a $13- dollar upgrade project. It provides 30% of Ontario’s power. The work will extend the facility’s life by decades.

• Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, which supplies 20% of Ontario’s power is also in the midst of a massive $12-billion refurbishment.

• Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is currently asking the federal government to allow it to continue operations and to conduct refurbishments of its own.

• Officials in New Brunswick are currently negotiating a potential partnership with Ontario Power Generation aimed at improving operations at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station, a plant NB Power has owned and operated for 40 years.

Thinking small: For the next generation of nuclear facilities, Canada is looking at a much smaller footprint. Just this month officials revealed that Chalk River, Ont. will be the site of the world's first micro-modular reactor. Once assembled from modular pieces, the reactor would be roughly the size of a football field. It could provide power to 5,000 people for 20 years.

The bottom line: According to the Canadian Nuclear associations, investing in nuclear power projects has three main benefits:

• Continuing to use zero-emission nuclear energy will help Ontario avoid burning more fossil fuels and avoid greenhouse gas emissions.

• Ontario’s nuclear fleet made it possible for the province to discontinue its use of coal, leading to a sharp decline in smog days and related problems with respiratory health.

• A single nuclear unit will employ nearly 1,000 people in full-time jobs for decades.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🚘 Construction work has halted at a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario. Auto-making giant Stellantis stated that all levels of government were to provide financial support in the pending deal, but believes the federal government has not delivered on what was agreed to.

🏢 In a move that reverses decades policy, Toronto is opening the city up to multiplex development. The city council voted to alter the Official Plan and city-wide zoning bylaw to enable the development of multiplexes – low-rise housing with two, three or four units in a single building – in all neighbourhoods.

🦺 An Ontario concrete company has been fined $115,000 for the death of a worker. The incident happened in 2021 during demolition at a home. An excavator knocked over a concrete wall onto a worker. Investigators found that the company did not designate someone with a clear view of to communicate hazards to the excavator operator, whose visibility was reduced by physical obstructions and the glare of the sun.

🛑 Coastal GasLink has been issued another stop work order due to soil erosion and sediment control concerns. TC Energy responded saying it is dealing with rapid spring melt due to rising temperatures and high snow pack. They added that experts are being brought in to assist with he conditions.

🏒 NDP Leader Rachel Notley is waiting to see the fine print before endorsing plans to build a new sports arena in Calgary. Notley told reporters that she wants to see what the final cost and design looks like before committing to honour the deal. The province is scheduled to hold an election later this month.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Toronto expands district energy system

Energizing Ontario: Toronto is about to get a lot greener. Enwave Energy has broken ground on a low-carbon heating facility at their Pearl Street Energy Centre in downtown Toronto. The expansion will enable Enwave to provide low-carbon heat to Toronto’s district energy grid. The project is supported by a grant from Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund, Champions Stream and a $600 million loan commitment from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB).

PROJECT UPDATES

Shoreline Power Group snagged a $1.3-billion contract at Bruce Power

Construction work set to begin on Halifax infirmary project 

Metrolinx has wrapped on work on Bramlea GO station

The Yukon Government has take control of the Minto Mine

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

READ: ♻️ Special recipe creates carbon-negative concrete 

REPORT: 🏠 Thousands of offices could be converted to housing

READ: 🤖 Autonomous reality capture robots are getting cheaper and cheaper

VIDEO: 🚔 Thieves pose as construction workers to rob Kelowna home

READ: 🍄 Can mushrooms detoxify construction waste?

RECRUITMENT

🔥 Hot jobs

Summer is heating up and so is SiteNews Jobs, a Canadian construction job board we launched this month. To highlight some of the best roles, we are starting a new weekly feature: Hot Jobs. Every week, we will round up some of the top senior-level construction jobs that we think deserve some extra attention. Here’s the latest:

• Project director (Toronto - Aecon)

• Controls estimator (Surrey - Genesis Building Controls)

• Senior project manager (Vancouver - Scott Construction)

• Senior quality manager, Civil  (EllisDon - Toronto)

• Construction Manager (PCL- Calgary)

Do you have a job that needs filling? Put in front of tens of thousands of construction professionals on SiteNews Jobs. Hurry up before our free trial ends!

Here’s to a great rest of the week!