Thank you, Madam Chair, and to the Standing Committee on Science and Research for the opportunity to share my testimony of how small nuclear reactors can benefit our environment, the economy, and our fellow Canadians.
As president of Westinghouse Electric Canada, I have the privilege of witnessing the positive impacts that our nuclear employees, services, and technology make every single day.
For transparency, I've spent my entire 20 year career with the Canadian nuclear industry, largely focused on supporting Canada's top performing CANDU nuclear power plants, which tonight are powering six of every 10 light bulbs in the House of Commons with carbon-free energy from Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation.
With respect to the environment, research conducted by EnviroEconomics and Navius, on behalf of the Canadian Nuclear Association, concluded that, between 2030 and 2050, SMRs could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 216 megatonnes in the industrial heavy sector alone. This means that SMRs can contribute to Canada's net-zero 2050 objective by reducing emissions an average of 14 megatonnes per year. That's equivalent to taking over three million cars off the road each and every year.
At Westinghouse, it is our engineering-based position that the carbon-free benefits of SMRs, including from our eVinci microreactor, will extend beyond power generation to bring social, economic, and emission reduction benefits to Canadians across our provinces and territories. In reality, the positive impacts of commercial nuclear power continue to be realized today for which Westinghouse has proudly been innovating with for the past 134 years.
This past March, Westinghouse Canada was honoured to receive a $27 million contribution agreement from the strategic innovation fund's net-zero accelerator program. For our part, we will invest an additional $40 million into our Canadian eVinci R and D program. We will create an additional 60 highly-skilled full-time jobs, and sponsor over 250 co-op students. The contributions of just our eVinci microreactor program will stimulate significant spend in Canada's domestic supply chain, and contribute to the advancement of more than 300 highly-skilled individuals. This is in addition to the 250 talented employees already working for Westinghouse Canada today. For context, Westinghouse had a single employee in Canada four years ago. I am witness that nuclear is truly a GDP catalyst.
Federal support will continue to be critical if we are to put Canada at the forefront of this emerging technology. SMRs will provide clean electricity and heat to where it's needed the most, while enabling economic development and job creation.
We as a country, you as elected officials, us as members of industry, must work together to remove unnecessary hurdles that can risk holding up our potential solutions for Canadians, such as in remote communities starved for reliable energy, looking to end their dependence on transported diesel and using eVinci to power year-round greenhouses or desalinate drinking water; in mining sites, wanting to reduce their carbon emissions with a reliable 24-7 power source that can partner with renewables, such as wind and solar; for industrial users with high temperature applications who consume large amounts of fossil fuel today and are seeking carbon-free, high-quality heat for bitumen extraction or even hydrogen production; for indigenous communities, looking to use more energy as fundamental to their economic and social betterment, but wanting, rightly, to have a role in project ownership and management; and at universities, where the versatility of eVinci, as a research reactor, can inspire a new generation of students in pursuing further benefits from this clean energy source, including medical isotope production.
SMRs are truly positioned to help Canada export this technology globally to new and existing marketplaces, building upon Canada's safe track record of exported nuclear technology to six other countries championed by AECL.
Westinghouse selected Canada to accelerate our eVinci commercialization program, because Canada has all the necessary elements to help us succeed. We have true market needs, a world-class nuclear regulator in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, capable nuclear laboratories under the stewardship of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, a mature supply chain and domestic uranium mining industry led by Cameco and Denison Mines, extensive nuclear operating experience from Bruce Power, OPG and NB Power, and a strong talent pool of existing and future employees. Finally, last but not least, Canada has a strong international brand, as well.
Madam Chair, thank you for allowing me to share my perspective on the potential, and the realized benefits of small nuclear reactors today. I would be pleased to take questions from the standing committee.