Canada is a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has signed and ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), being one of the 44 listed countries needed to sign and ratify for the CTBT to enter into force.

Canada has in the past pressed for a review of NATO's nuclear weapons policy. NATO doctrine remains unchanged. NATO’s statement that nuclear weapons are “essential” is incompatible with its unequivocal commitment to nuclear disarmament. Physicians for Global Survival believes that Canada should call for the dismantling of nuclear weapons assigned to NATO. At present there is a “neither confirm nor deny” policy with respect to the presence of nuclear weapons on vessels entering Canadian waters. Canada should demand transparency and deny entrance to nuclear weapons in our ports. Click here for ICAN's Canada demands.

Canada has built and operated 17 CANada Deuterium Uranium ("CANDU") Pressurized Heavy Water type nuclear reactors.

Canada has exported this technology to South Korea (4), Romania (2), India (2), Pakistan (1), Argentina (1) and China (2), along with the engineering expertise to build and operate them.

Canada is the world's largest producer of uranium. In 2004 production of 13,676 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate (11,597 tonnes U) was about 30% of total world production. Its value was about C$800 million.

Canada's low cost uranium reserves (Reasonably Assured Resources plus Estimated Additional Resources - category 1) are 509,000 tonnes of U3O8 (432,000 tU, 12% of world total), compared with Australia's reserves of double that.

Some $539 million was spent on uranium exploration in Canada during 1986-97 (over twice as much as Australia's $226 million) and this led to a sharp increase in recoverable resources to 507,000 tonnes U3O8 (measured, indicated & inferred resources). Despite depletion from mining, this remains much the same.

Exploration expenditure in 2003 was C$36 million, mostly at established projects. However, the C$13 million of this on grassroots exploration in Saskatchewan represented a major proportion of world uranium exploration.

Read the profile on Canada from the Model Nuclear Inventory (pdf), produced by the Reaching Critical Will project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.