Canadian push: nuclear, minerals and resilient energy links

Canada combined bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in Warsaw and at the IEA ministerial in Paris to translate market access into concrete projects and investor matches for Canadian firms. The mission mixed procurement discussions, investor outreach and multilateral coordination under a single strategic objective: secure demand for Canadian energy and mineral exports while strengthening allied energy and supply-chain resilience.

In Warsaw, Canadian officials emphasized long-term power planning and promoted Canadian nuclear technology as a candidate for Poland’s second large reactor—an opening that could deliver downstream industrial work for domestic suppliers if Ottawa’s pitches and partner procurement processes align. Conversations there also scoped export opportunities in LNG, hydrogen, offshore wind and grid modernization equipment.

At the IEA ministerial in Paris, Ottawa chaired a minerals-focused dialogue that paired European and French capital with Canadian mining opportunities, leveraging Canada’s upcoming G7 presidency and its Canada-led alliance on critical minerals. That session aimed to accelerate investment flows and reduce reliance on single-source supply chains for strategic inputs.

The delegation announced targeted federal support including up to $15 million to underwrite a public–private collaboration centered on a proposed loop tritium facility tied to the UK Atomic Energy Authority and Eni’s H3AT program—a deliberate attempt to seed a Canadian role in an emergent fusion supply chain. Ottawa also committed more than $1 million in grants to the IEA to support initiatives aligned with Canada’s regional energy priorities, including work in Southeast Asia.

Officials used the Paris platform to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine focused on wartime energy resilience, covering infrastructure protection, cyber and physical resilience measures, and deployment of rural micro-grids to stabilize supplies under conflict conditions. The MOU complements broader allied support for Ukraine’s energy systems.

These energy and minerals initiatives are part of a wider diplomatic push: Ottawa is coordinating economic diplomacy alongside defence and industrial planning at forums such as the upcoming Munich meetings, seeking to convert pledges into procurement frameworks, investment commitments and interoperable industrial partnerships. Canadian officials are using these overlapping venues to synchronize defence-industrial aims, secure buyer markets for strategic technologies, and attract private capital into sensitive sectors like critical minerals and advanced energy.

Operationally, Ottawa is combining targeted subsidies, diplomatic advocacy and alliance-building to open buyer markets while de‑risking early-stage supply chain entries for Canadian firms. The strategy is designed to produce early commercial matches and investment memoranda in the near term, with the potential for larger infrastructure contracts if partner procurement processes and allied defence–industrial coordination favor Canadian bids.

Risks include competing supplier offers from other states, lengthy timelines for nuclear and fusion projects, and the political and logistical complexity of wartime reconstruction in Ukraine. Success will depend on follow‑through: export finance, procurement guarantees and streamlined regulatory approvals will be necessary to convert diplomatic intent into tangible orders and jobs.

Taken together, the mission sought to convert high‑level diplomatic access into targeted instruments that anchor Canadian participation in clean‑energy and critical‑minerals value chains across Europe and in wartime recovery efforts—while embedding those economic goals within a broader allied push to synchronize defence, procurement and industrial policy.