Policy and licensing / Canada

Canada: SMR policy and licensing

Selected federal, state, territory, and national measures whose official text was opened. This is not a complete list of laws, rules or programmes for any jurisdiction. A jurisdiction without a page here is not a finding that it has no policy, and these pages do not rate or prefer any jurisdiction. Nothing here implies that a project is eligible for, or approved under, any measure.

Laws, rules and executive directives

• Canada: Clean technology investment tax credit for small nuclear energy property (Income Tax Act s. 127.45) · In effect
  Income Tax Act, s. 127.45, added by S.C. 2024, c. 15, s. 36 (assented to 20 June 2024) and amended by S.C. 2024, c. 17, s. 80 and S.C. 2026, c. 3, s. 52 (assented to 26 March 2026) · Parliament of Canada · affects: Project funding
  Section 127.45 of Canada's Income Tax Act defines small nuclear energy property (facilities expected to total no more than 1,400 MWth) as clean technology property and sets specified percentages of 30% for property acquired from 28 March 2023 through 2033, 15% in 2034 and nil after. These percentages do not establish any taxpayer's eligibility or actual credit. It is a federal tax measure, not a licence, site decision or project award.
  Not approved or pending: No taxpayer's or project's eligibility, claim or receipt of the credit is established here. The lifecycle is selective: the S.C. 2024, c. 17, s. 80 amendment was not opened, and labour requirements, recapture rules and application provisions (not included in the consolidated text) were not assessed.
• Canada: Physical Activities Regulations, Schedule item 27 – new fission or fusion reactors (SOR/2019-285) · In effect
  Physical Activities Regulations, SOR/2019-285, Schedule, item 27; P.C. 2019-1182 of 7 August 2019, registered 8 August 2019, made under ss. 109 and 188 of the Impact Assessment Act · Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment · affects: Environmental review
  Under item 27 of Canada's Physical Activities Regulations, new fission or fusion reactors are designated projects under the Impact Assessment Act when their combined thermal capacity is more than 900 MWth within an existing Class IA facility's licensed boundaries, or more than 200 MWth outside them. This record does not establish any project's designation, assessment outcome or licence.
  Not approved or pending: Does not say whether any specific Canadian SMR project is or is not a designated project; that depends on licensed boundaries and combined thermal capacity, which were not assessed for any project. Other schedule items, ministerial designation under the Impact Assessment Act, transitional rules and provincial environmental assessment were not reviewed. The consolidated text read on 9 October 2026 shows that SOR/2026-185 (the amendment behind the 2026-09-03 last-amended date) repealed a definition and schedule items 30 to 33, 39 and 41; item 27 carries no amendment citation.

Bills, proposed rules and consultations

• None recorded in this pilot.

Funding and support programmes

• None recorded in this pilot.

Recorded applications and decisions for tracked projects and designs in Canada

Project and design permissions are separate from the general measures above.

Site applications and decisions

• NB Power licence to prepare site application — NB Power ARC-100 at Point Lepreau
  Site permission sought · Under review · CNSC · submitted 2023-06-30
  Site preparation licence application for ARC-100.
  Sources: CNSC NB Power ARC-100 Project

Construction applications and decisions

• OPG licence to construct BWRX-300 — Darlington BWRX-300 Unit 1
  Construction permission · Issued / approved · CNSC · decided 2025-04-04
  CNSC issued licence to construct PRCL 32.00/2035 for one BWRX-300 on 4 April 2025, valid to 31 March 2035, with regulatory hold points. OPG's application was received on 31 October 2022.
  Sources: CNSC Darlington New Nuclear Project; CNSC Record of Proceedings, Including Reasons for Decision: OPG application for a licence to construct one BWRX-300 (CMD 24-H3)

Operating-licence applications and decisions

• OPG licence to operate application — Darlington BWRX-300 Unit 1
  Operating authority sought · Under review · CNSC · submitted 2026-03-25
  20-year operating licence application for one BWRX-300 and waste structure.
  Sources: CNSC Darlington New Nuclear Project