Canada: Nuclear Safety and Control Act (S.C. 1997, c. 9)
Canada's Nuclear Safety and Control Act establishes the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and prohibits preparing a site for, constructing, operating, modifying, decommissioning or abandoning a nuclear facility, including a fission reactor, except under a Commission licence. It sets the national licensing framework; it does not license or approve any reactor or project.
- Category
- Laws, rules and executive directives
- Status
- In effect
- Instrument
- statute · Nuclear Safety and Control Act, S.C. 1997, c. 9; assented to 20 March 1997; in force 31 May 2000 (SI/2000-42)
- Issued by
- Parliament of Canada
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Affects
- National reactor licensing
- In effect from
- 31 May 2000 · actual · day
- Expiry or completion
- None recorded
- Operative text
- Canada: Nuclear Safety and Control Act (S.C. 1997, c. 9), consolidated text (Consolidated Act current to 2026-09-30, last amended 2017-01-01)
- Record reviewed · next review
- 2026-10-18 · 2027-04-18 (dates our review of this record; not a statement of the measure's present legal effect)
Legal and geographic scope
Federal statute that establishes the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (s. 8), whose objects include regulating the development, production and use of nuclear energy to prevent unreasonable risk to the environment, health, safety and national security (s. 9). Section 26(e) prohibits anyone from preparing a site for, constructing, operating, modifying, decommissioning or abandoning a nuclear facility except in accordance with a licence. Under s. 24 the Commission may establish classes of licences and may issue, renew, suspend, amend, revoke or replace a licence on receipt of an application in the prescribed form, with the prescribed information and fee. A nuclear facility includes a nuclear fission or fusion reactor or subcritical nuclear assembly and a vehicle equipped with a nuclear reactor. The Act does not itself license, site or approve any reactor, design or project; licence application content is set by regulations such as the Class I Nuclear Facilities Regulations.
Not approved or still pending
Establishes no licence, licence decision or project status. Amendments not yet in force (S.C. 2023, c. 32, s. 49, on firearms and high-security sites), the General Nuclear Safety and Control Regulations and the Commission's regulatory documents were not assessed. Federal impact assessment is separate (see the Physical Activities Regulations record).
Dated lifecycle
- 20 Mar 1997 · actual · day · Enacted — Royal Assent to S.C. 1997, c. 9. (Canada: Nuclear Safety and Control Act (S.C. 1997, c. 9), consolidated text)
- 31 May 2000 · actual · day · Took effect — Editorial note in the consolidated text: Act in force 31 May 2000 (SI/2000-42). (Canada: Nuclear Safety and Control Act (S.C. 1997, c. 9), consolidated text)
Definitions in this instrument
- nuclear facility (s. 2): Includes a nuclear fission or fusion reactor or subcritical nuclear assembly, a particle accelerator, listed uranium, thorium and plutonium facilities, a facility for disposal of nuclear substances generated elsewhere, a vehicle equipped with a nuclear reactor, and other prescribed facilities.
Legal definition used by this Canadian statute only; SMRMap's inclusion rule for SMRs is separate and unchanged.
Related instruments
- Canada: Class I Nuclear Facilities Regulations (SOR/2000-204) (implemented by)
Projects or designs named by the source
- None. Location in this jurisdiction does not make a project eligible for, or approved under, this measure.
Sources
- Canada: Nuclear Safety and Control Act (S.C. 1997, c. 9), consolidated text (government_primary, revised 30 Sep 2026, accessed 2026-10-18)