Ontario Investing $35 Million to Expand Art Gallery of Ontario

May 1, 2026

Funding will support Canadian heritage and culture at the AGO with 13 new galleries, welcoming 120,000 more visitors each year.

As part of its plan to protect Ontario and build a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy, the Ontario government reached a major construction milestone on the G7’s first Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Today, at the CNA2026 Conference, Minister Stephen Lecce announced that a 2.1-million-pound Basemat module for the Unit 1 SMR was lifted and installed at the Darlington New Nuclear Project site. This precision lift, the equivalent of lifting more than three Airbus A380 airliners, was executed by one of the world’s largest crawler cranes, lowering the material within millimetre precision and represents the first foundation of a new nuclear reactor to be built in Ontario in over 30 years. Once complete, the Darlington New Nuclear Project’s four SMRs will produce 1,200 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power 1.2 million homes.

“Ontario is building the Western World’s first Small Modular Reactor — creating 18,000 good-paying jobs,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines. “Ontario just executed with great precision the first foundation of a new nuclear reactor in Ontario in over 30 years. This is a major achievement as the world turns to Ontario to refurbish and build large scale nuclear on-time and on-budget. For the first time, Ontario has secured over 100 Canadian-based businesses to help build the components for SMRs, infusing over $500 million into Ontario’s economy. Our government is deeply committed to building more in Canada, which is why we are proud to invest at least 80 per cent of every dollar in the Canadian supply chain.”

In addition, the government is announcing that the SMR supply chain has grown to more than 100 Canadian companies. Building on the more than 80 Ontario companies, including northern and rural suppliers, that have already signed agreements with Ontario Power Generation and its partners to deliver this first-of-its-kind project, sixteen new Ontario-based companies, and six companies from Quebec and Alberta have joined the supply chain to support the SMR builds. Recently awarded contracts include:

  • Walters Group, based in Hamilton, has been awarded a $44.5 million contract for structural steel.
  • Marmon Industrial Water, based in Toronto, has been awarded a $17.8 million contract for a condensate purification package.
  • Tractel, based in Scarborough, has been awarded a $9.9 million contract for the reactor building weather enclosure.
  • Hooper Welding, based in Oakville, has been awarded an $8.8 million contract for sampling and collection tanks.

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