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Policy and licensing / Canada

Canada: Physical Activities Regulations, Schedule item 27 – new fission or fusion reactors (SOR/2019-285)

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.

Category
Laws, rules and executive directives
Status
In effect
Instrument
final rule · 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
Issued by
Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment
Jurisdiction
Canada
Affects
Environmental review
In effect from
28 Aug 2019 · actual · day
Expiry or completion
None recorded
Operative text
Canada: Physical Activities Regulations (SOR/2019-285), consolidated text (Consolidated regulations current to 2026-09-21, last amended 2026-09-03)
Last checked · next review
2026-10-08 · 2026-12-08

Legal and geographic scope

Lists the physical activities that are designated projects under the Impact Assessment Act. Item 27 lists site preparation for, and construction, operation and decommissioning of, one or more new nuclear fission or fusion reactors if (a) the activity is within the licensed boundaries of an existing Class IA nuclear facility and the new reactors have a combined thermal capacity of more than 900 MWth, or (b) the activity is outside such boundaries and the new reactors have a combined thermal capacity of more than 200 MWth. These are combined thermal thresholds, not module electrical ratings. Designated-project status is distinct from any later assessment decision, and the Regulations do not license reactors.

Not approved or still 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.

Dated lifecycle

Projects or designs named by the source

Sources