Canada Energy Regulator
Canada Energy Regulator
02/18/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 02/18/2026 09:45
Market Snapshot: Canadian uranium exports help fuel nuclear generation around the world
Release date: 2026-02-18
Canada is a large global supplier of the used for nuclear generation in Canada and abroad. In its Global Energy Rankings, Natural Resources Canada ranks Canada third globally for proven uranium reserves, and second for uranium production and exports. Uranium is mined in Saskatchewan and processed in Ontario for domestic use. Canada's nuclear power facilities used 10% of domestic uranium production to generate 81 TWh of electricity in 2024-approximately 13% of total Canadian power generationFootnote 1. The other 90% of production was exported.
Canada's uranium production, which was 16.9 (kt) in 2024, is a key contribution to the North American-and global-energy system. Much of Canada's uranium exports go to the United States (U.S.), making uranium a key energy link between the two countries. Canadian uranium helps fuel U.S. nuclear electricity generation, a key component of the U.S. energy mix. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. nuclear facilities rely almost entirely on imported uranium, with Canada frequently serving as the largest foreign supplier. In recent history, Canada has exported between 3 to over 8 kt of uranium to the U.S. annually. In 2024, a third of uranium purchased by U.S. nuclear reactors came from Canada (Figure 1). Total U.S. nuclear electricity generation was 782 TWh in 2024Footnote 2, which is more than the total power generation in Canada from all fuels combined (622 TWh). According to Natural Resources Canada, the total embodied energy in the uranium that Canada produces-including that produced for export-made up 21% of Canada's total primary energy production in 2024Footnote 3, compared to 38% for crude oil and 26% for natural gas. Canada has long-term contracts for exports going to elsewhere in North America and Latin America (58%), Europe (26%), and Asia (16%)Footnote 4.
Figure 1: U.S. uranium purchases from Canada and their share of total U.S. purchases
Data Source: 2024 Uranium Marketing Annual Report
Text Alternative: This dual column and line chart summarizes Canada-U.S. trade in uranium from 2019 to 2023. The columns show that the U.S. purchased between 4.6 to 8.5 kt of uranium from Canada in all years except 2021, which was 3.1 kt. The line shows the percentage of total U.S. purchases of uranium that come from Canada, which ranged between 15-33% over this period.
Overview of Canada's uranium supply chainFootnote 5
Most of Canada's uranium reserves are in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan, which have the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits (high uranium concentration in the ore). The mined uranium ore is milled into a yellow powder of uranium oxide concentrate, also named . Some yellowcake is exportedFootnote 6, while some is sent to the world's largest commercial uranium refinery in Blind River, Ontario, where it is refined into uranium trioxide (UO3) powder. The uranium trioxide is then shipped to the only Canadian uranium conversion facility in Port Hope, Ontario, which produces uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and fuel-grade natural uranium dioxide (UO2). Uranium hexafluoride is exported to produce enriched uranium for applications such as light-water reactors (one type of nuclear power generation) in the U.S. and other countries. Uranium dioxide (UO2) is shipped to fuel fabrication facilities in Port Hope and Peterborough, Ontario to produce natural uranium fuel rod bundles for domestic consumption in Canada's nuclear power facilities in Ontario and New Brunswick, which are . Canada's used nuclear fuel is currently safely stored at existing reactor sites in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and at a laboratory in Manitoba.
Figure 2: Uranium value chain in Canada
Data Sources: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, CAMECO, World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Energy Agency, EveryCRSReport, International Energy Agency, Nuclear Waste Management Association, CER, NRCan.
Text Alternative: This diagram shows the uranium value chain in Canada from mining to spent fuel disposal. Uranium ore is extracted from mines in Saskatchewan. Then the uranium ore is milled and processed to generate uranium oxide concentrate, commonly called "yellowcake". Yellowcake is then refined in Ontario to uranium trioxide (UO3) and then shipped to a conversion facility in the province, where UO3 is further processed into uranium dioxide (UO2) and uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Yellowcake, UO2 and UF6 are exported by truck, rail, and ship to the U.S and Europe. UO2 for domestic consumption is sent to two fuel fabrication facilities also located in OntarioFootnote 7 where it is packed into fuel assemblies for its use in Canada's CANDU reactors. Finally, Canada's spent nuclear fuel is then safely stored.
Canada Energy Regulator published this content on February 18, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 18, 2026 at 15:45 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]