Humber Polytechnic is playing an important role in nuclear energy capacity building by hosting the first meeting of the Canada-ASEAN Business Council’s (CABC) Nuclear Energy Working Group in collaboration with Ontario Tech University. 

The meeting welcomed members of the post-secondary education community as well as senior officials and CABC representatives to advance dialogue, knowledge exchange and partnership opportunities in nuclear energy capacity building.  

The objective was to convene other nuclear capacity building post-secondaries to share findings and propose collaboration and multi-year partnership opportunities. It was also to raise awareness on the range of roles across the nuclear supply chain that will need to be filled and to host ASEAN and Asia senior officials based in Canada as well as key industry stakeholders to review CABC Nuclear Working Group efforts and capacity building initiatives. 

“The timing of today’s dialogue is important. Following the commitments made at the meeting of the (Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change)28 and at COP30, the world is moving from planning to implementation," said Ann Marie Vaughan, Humber president and CEO. "This means investing in education and training to build the workforce that will deliver clean, reliable energy. Here in Canada, recent federal investments in nuclear and clean growth technologies highlight the opportunity ahead.”  

“For Canada and ASEAN, this is a moment of alignment,” Vaughan continued. “Canada brings decades of experience in CANDU technology, safety culture and workforce development. ASEAN nations bring ambition, innovation, and regional collaboration. Together we can create partnerships that are inclusive, practical, and focused on the future. By combining our expertise, we can develop the skills that will benefit both our regions for generations to come." 

The meeting included representatives from Centennial College, Durham College, Georgian College, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, New Brunswick Community College and Ontario Tech University. Also participating was the Consulate of Indonesia in Toronto, Indonesia Trade Office, Consulate of the Republic of the Philippines in Toronto, the Philippine Trade and Investment Centre, Embassy of Indonesia, Vietnam Trade Office, Laurentis, AtkinsRealis and the Toronto Region Board of Trade. 

The mission of the CABC Nuclear Energy Working Group is to raise Canada’s competitive profile in ASEAN while fostering partnerships and pathways to procurement. 

Jan De Silva, Canada co-chair, CABC, said the group has seen increased movement in many Asian economies signaling a trust in nuclear energy. 

“The purpose of the discussion today is to determine what we can be doing to start forging strong capacity building partnerships with your markets to support the nuclear agendas that are evolving and with capacity building – even though some of these nuclear programs are years away from being launched, the capacity building needs to start now,” said De Silva. 

The meeting included a presentation on the CABC-ASEAN Centre for Energy’s work on ASEAN nuclear energy capacity building needs. The academic institutions and businesses explained their involvement in Canada’s nuclear energy workforce development while the international members spoke of their market’s nuclear energy considerations and needs. These were followed by a moderated discussion on practical approaches to developing a multi-year roadmap for nuclear workforce capacity building in key ASEAN markets.