​Ontario Building Trades Council supports Bruce Power Life-Extension Program

The Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario has re-affirmed its commitment to work closely with Bruce Power, site contractors and the local community, to support the company’s ongoing Major Component Replacement (MCR) project and Life-Extension Program.

Delegates to the 66th annual convention approved a resolution that the building trades, through their government relations strategy, will work closely with its affiliates to promote Bruce Power and Ontario’s nuclear sector as a stable source of clean, carbon-free, low-cost electricity that will assist meeting Canada’s net-zero goals.

The resolution also re-affirmed the council’s support for Canadian investments in nuclear energy through tax incentives while committing to advocate for nuclear power as a safe, reliable and carbon-free source of electricity. In addition, Building Trades delegates resolved to advocate for optimizing the impact assessment process to explore nuclear expansion at the Bruce Power site to meet growing demand for clean electricity.

“Nuclear power is an essential part of the energy mix to meet Ontario’s long-term plans to grow the economy, create jobs, and achieve its net-zero goals,” said Marc Arsenault, business manager and secretary-treasurer of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario.

“The Building Trades are actively involved in Bruce Power’s MCR program and because of the work of our highly-skilled tradespeople, we were able to return Unit 6 to service safely, on-budget and ahead of schedule. Our workforce has the understanding of the industry, and the specialized skill-sets necessary to play a key role in the refurbishment of Units 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, going forward.”

As part of its resolution, the Building Trades highlighted the large economic footprint that Bruce Power projects have, including creating an estimated 22,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, from operations, and an additional 5,000 jobs annually throughout the investment program. The Building Trades are proactively collaborating with Bruce Power, site contractors, and the local community to help diversify the construction workforce needed to supply these projects, to include more Indigenous employees, women, returning veterans and reservists, and under-employed youth.

“Our partnership with the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council and the skilled tradespeople who work on our site, is helping to drive our Life Extension Program and MCR work forward and proving that nuclear will help the province reach its economic and climate change goals,” said Eric Chassard, Bruce Power’s executive vice-president of projects and engineering. “Together, we’ve shown we have the skilled workforce and industry expertise to lead Ontario’s clean energy future.”

The Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario represents 150,000 skilled trades workers throughout the province, belonging to 16 affiliated construction craft unions. The council’s mission is to give construction workers a voice in the workplace, to help ensure that workers are well-trained to meet industry needs, and to promote healthy and safe working conditions with fair wages, pensions, and benefits.