Multiple Canadian nuclear companies are pitching for business in Poland, but Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson is largely there to advocate for Candu Energy Inc.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ottawa has its eye on Poland as an emerging market for Canada’s nuclear expertise, and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson is in the country this week to urge it to adopt Canadian technology for its second nuclear power plant.
Mr. Hodgson’s stop in Warsaw is part of a two-day trip to Europe to promote Canadian energy. He will also represent Canada in Paris at the 2026 International Energy Agency ministerial summit.
The European visit is taking place at a time of heightened geopolitical instability and a renewed global focus on energy security, and as Canada seeks to diversify its international trade partnerships in the face of continuing hostility from President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Poland is a rising economy in Europe that has real interests that align with ours on energy transition, and we’re taking advantage of that to build Canada strong,” Mr. Hodgson said in an interview from Warsaw Monday.
The governments of Poland and Canada have significantly strengthened bilateral ties over the past 12 months as Poland pursues an ambitious nuclear buildout to reduce its dependence on coal and Russian natural gas and strengthen the reliability of its electricity grid.
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In January, 2025, Canada and Poland signed a Nuclear Co-operation Agreement to foster new company partnerships, explore opportunities around small modular reactors (SMRs) and hold discussions between their respective energy ministries about Poland’s second nuclear power plant.
Collaboration on nuclear energy was also one of the main pillars in a Canada-Poland strategic partnership, signed in August.
Multiple Canadian nuclear companies are pitching for business in Poland, but Mr. Hodgson is largely there to advocate for Candu Energy Inc., owned by Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. ATRL-T (formerly SNC-Lavalin).
AtkinsRéalis is part of a four-company consortium that won a joint contract in 2024 to build two nuclear reactors in Romania – the first new Candu reactors to be built in the world since 2007. The deal was sealed by $3-billion in Canadian export financing, which was provided by the federal government and administered by Export Development Canada, a Crown corporation.
Mr. Hodgson said Polish officials visited the existing Candu nuclear plant in Romania a couple of weeks ago and were “very impressed with what they saw.”
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AtkinsRéalis’s Pennsylvania-based competitor, Westinghouse Electric Co., has also targeted Poland. In 2024, it said it had won a “letter of interest” for up to $2.02-billion in potential financing from EDC to support the sale of goods and services to build what would be Poland’s first nuclear power plant. (Westinghouse is now under Canadian ownership, having been purchased by Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco Corp.)
Mr. Hodgson said Canada is “incredibly fortunate” to have multiple companies able to deliver nuclear power solutions to Poland, but he said an AtkinsRéalis win would be better for Canada.
Although Westinghouse is Canadian-owned, the technology and intellectual property are controlled by Americans, and its management and supply chain is in the United States, he said.
“If they’re the winner, then that’s fine, but we’ll maximize benefit for Canada in the case of Candu, because everything is Canadian,” he said, including the IP and the supply chain.
“Candu asked us to help them here,” he said. “We think advancing Canadian-owned and Canadian IP technology is something that’s important for Canada, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Candu technology also offers advantages to Poland, he said. It’s an approved reactor in Europe, for example, and the company has several new builds and refurbishments that were completed ahead of time and underbudget, including the fourth and final refurbished reactor at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, Ont.
It also uses unenriched uranium, which negates the need to rely on another country for fuel, thereby boosting national security.
Asked whether he’s confident that Candu will be chosen for Poland’s second nuclear power plant, Mr. Hodgson said, “I learned a long time ago that you don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. You go out and play the game the best you can and may the best person win. But we feel pretty good about it.”