The provincial government recently announced, as part of their 2025 budget, that they are investing $15.5 million to expand the McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) in Hamilton to 24/7 operations.
The McMaster Nuclear Reactor is Canada’s largest nuclear research reactor and among the world’s leading suppliers of medical isotopes.
The facility was previously operating 24 hours a day, five days per week, but will now operate nonstop, which the university says will “support the increased production of custom isotopes required to develop new drugs.”
Medical isotopes are critical for diagnosing and treating cancer and other diseases.
The additional $15.5 million invested in the facility will be spread out over the next three years.
The provincial budget says that expansion of operations will “expand the supply and diversity of isotopes produced to help spur new discoveries.”
The investment is also projected to help create 16 new jobs by 2030 and the province says that the funds will also “enable the creation of a commercial spinoff and joint venture for medical isotopes, and establish additional nuclear and neutron beam R&D capabilities, as well as develop and commercialize new medical treatments.”
With the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, McMaster University researchers are able to make discoveries related to medicine, clean energy, nuclear safety, and materials and environmental science.
The reactor also provides cancer treatments for more than 70,000 patients every year.
McMaster President David Farrar responded to the funding announcement, saying, “We thank the Government of Ontario for its vital support in expanding operations of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor.”
“As Canada’s Nuclear University, McMaster is now even better positioned to commercialize cutting-edge research and train the next generation of nuclear experts to protect the health of Ontarians, Canadians and people around the world.”
Nolan Quinn, Ontario’s Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, added, “Ontario is a global leader in innovative research that creates good, paying jobs, strengthens our economy and saves lives.”
“Our government is proud to support the expansion of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor so it can produce even more groundbreaking treatments that improve people’s health, protecting Ontario for decades to come.”
The investment from the Ontario government builds on $6.8 million from the 2023 provincial budget, which allowed McMaster University to initially expand to their 24-hour, five days per week schedule.
The Government of Ontario is also making a $45 million investment in the Canadian Biomanufacturing Cooperative as part of the budget.
McMaster University received $18 million of that to expand its Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory and to support the recently opened Sartorius Bioprocess Automation Lab.
In addition, the province is investing $750 million over the next five years to fund up to 20,500 seats for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs at colleges and universities, including 2,440 seats per year at McMaster.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
