Canada: City opposes deep repository designation; court denies NSDF challenge

Two recent developments in Ontario, Canada, could have ramifications for the country's efforts to dispose of its legacy nuclear waste.

In the province's western half, the city of Dryden voted to formally request that Canada's Major Projects Office deny "project of national interest" status for a proposal for a nearby deep geological repository.

To the east, Canada's Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission did not have an expanded duty to consult the Kebaowek First Nation regarding construction of the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) near Chalk River Laboratories, 200 kilometers northwest of Ottawa. It also upheld the CNSC's initial approval of the NSDF site.

Canada's deep geological repository: Canada's nuclear waste appeared in the news on October 14, when Dryden's city council issued a statement announcing its intent to submit an official letter to the Major Projects Office. The letter would note the city's opposition to the federal government's efforts to fast-track development of the repository planned for the site of the Revell batholith, between the township of Ignace and the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON), the announcement said.

Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the nonprofit responsible for the country's used fuel and other radioactive materials, began exploring possible sites for a deep geological repository in 2010. The Ignace-WLON site emerged as one of two final contenders in 2019, and in 2024, both Ignace and WLON agreed to serve as host communities for the facility.

Progress toward building the repository continued quickly from that point. On January 5 of this year, the NWMO announced that it had filed its initial project description with regulatory agencies. Six months later, Canada's government announced that it was considering listing the repository as a "project of national interest," a label that would afford it expedited regulatory processes under the Building Canada Act. The Canada Gazette then published official notice of the possible designation on September 22.

The city of Dryden, located about 100 kilometers northwest of Ignace and about 20 kilometers northwest of WLON, did not state in its announcement that it opposes the repository. Rather, according to Jack Harrison, Dryden's mayor, "The NWMO still has not adequately addressed their project impacts on our community."

Dryden serves as one of Ontario's regional service hubs-a site that provides several government services to surrounding towns and communities. The city said that despite the NWMO's assessments that Dryden would "experience significant socioeconomic effects" from the repository, unlike Ignace or WLON, the town has yet to sign a hosting agreement with the NWMO, suggesting that accelerated development of the repository could put a disproportionate strain on Dryden's infrastructure.

In May 2026, the township of Ignace announced its receipt of a lump sum of C$10 million (about $7.1 million) as the discretionary benefit allowed to the town per the host agreement it signed with the NWMO in March 2024. Although details of the host agreement between the NWMO and WLON are not publicly available, in March 2025 WLON members received payouts from a "milestone payment" made to the WLON government.

Commenting on Dryden's hesitation, Pierre Cuguen, spokesperson for the Major Projects Office, said, "Should the project be listed under the [Building Canada] Act, the Major Projects Office would coordinate a regulatory review process to develop specific technical conditions to mitigate, avoid, and, where appropriate, offset potential project effects," per CBC News.

Canada's deep geological repository has not yet been designated a project of national interest; the public comment period for the possible designation remains open until October 26.

The Near Surface Disposal Facility: Separately, on October 16, Canada's Federal Court of Appeal issued a decision that rejected Kebaowek First Nation's challenge to the CNSC's approval of the NSDF site and overturned a lower court's decision in favor of the First Nation community.

Work on the NSDF began in 2016, when Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, which operates the Chalk River Laboratories facility, submitted a project description and initiated public hearings for a low-level waste repository as part of its efforts to update Chalk River. CNL submitted its construction application in July 2023; the CNSC approved it in January 2024.

However, in June 2021, Canada passed its UN Declaration Act. This legislation requires the federal government to ensure that its laws conform to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which requires that Indigenous nations have the opportunity to give "free, prior, and informed consent" to decisions that involve their communities.

Kebaowek First Nation brought their challenge to the NSDF construction site approval under the UN Declaration Act in February 2024, arguing that the CNSC did not provide consultation in line with UNDRIP's principles and standards for consent. A federal judge agreed and ordered CNL, the CNSC, and Kebaowek First Nation to begin expanded consultations, giving the parties a deadline of September 30, 2026.

CNL and the CNSC appealed the decision, yet proceeded with the consultations, but on September 24, Kebaowek First Nation suspended the talks, stating that CNL and the CNSC had not provided adequate funding to support development of the First Nation's own legal framework for granting consent, a claim that CNSC denied in a statement to CBC News.

The appeals court decision followed on October 16. In it, along with stating that the CNSC did not err in granting its approval to NSDF construction at the Chalk River Laboratories site, the court decided that the UN Declaration Act provides guidance for implementing UNDRIP standards into future laws but does not require those standards to be incorporated into current laws. It also ruled that the CNSC is not a governmental body with authority to decide how to apply UNDRIP.

At the time of this writing, both Kebaowek First Nation and the CNSC have stated that they are reviewing the decision and considering their next actions.