AtkinsRealis headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, on September 30, 2025. (Photo by Graham Hughes/NurPhoto via Getty Images) · NurPhoto via Getty Images
AtkinsRéalis Group (ATRL.TO) CEO Ian Edwards says governments in Canada ought to buy Canadian nuclear technology to spur knock-on economic benefits like jobs. His comments come as Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to make a major infrastructure announcement on Thursday, and weeks after Alberta’s government announced an agreement with one of the Montreal-based company’s rivals.
“I would hope that our utilities and our provinces here in Canada choose a technology which is Canadian, which will supply jobs to Canadians, because no other technology will do that,” Edwards told analysts on a conference call on Thursday morning.
Shares of the Canadian engineering and construction firm rose as Edwards touted “supercycle” demand for nuclear power. The company reported financial results before the start of trading, topping analyst estimates for sales and profit.
AtkinsRéalis stands to benefit from Carney’s first list of major projects announced in September. The company is a key partner in the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario which was included in that announcement.
Last month, Energy Alberta announced a memorandum of understanding with Westinghouse Electric Company to consider deployment of an advanced modular reactor. The Pennsylvania-based company is jointly owned by Canadian firms Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP-UN.TO) and Cameco (CCO.TO)(CCJ).
“The jobs will go down south with the company that you’re referring to for manufacturing and for engineering,” Edwards said on Thursday. “From a competitive edge, we kind of hope that sense will prevail, and we’ll support our own technology here in Canada.”
Formerly called SNC Lavalin, Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis is the exclusive licensee of the Canadian government-owned CANDU nuclear reactor technology. The company’s nuclear unit saw its sales jump 61.7 per cent year-over-year for the three months ended Sept. 30.
Overall revenue increased nearly 15 per cent on an annualized basis in Q3, reaching $2.81 billion. Profit attributable to shareholders was $146.7 million, or 88 cents per diluted share, up from $103.7 million or 59 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
“The whole industry is really in this supercycle, and we’re seeing good opportunities all around,” Edwards said.
Toronto-listed AtkinsRéalis shares gained as much as 7.4 per cent in early trading. Shares closed 4.02 per cent higher on Thursday at $92.22.
“Canada has a unique advantage in the way that it operates with countries around the world. Because where we’ve built CANDU, in India, Korea, China, Romania, [and] Argentina, we’ve left behind decades of relationships between Canada and those countries, and decades of relationships between AtkinsRéalis and those utilities,” Edwards added.