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On April 14, 2025, ahead of the CNA Conference in Ottawa, Canada, the four organizations I2EN, GIFEN, CNA and OCNI signed a new collaboration agreement for nuclear training. With this partnership, France and Canada are joining forces to strengthen workforce planning and the development of human capabilities in the nuclear sector.
This new Franco-Canadian partnership is designed to meet one of the industry’s key challenges: nuclear training. At the heart of the partnership: assessing current and future needs in terms of qualified manpower, and proposing solutions to the countries’ ambitions for new nuclear projects.
As the nuclear sector in France and Canada booms with the construction of new reactors, both large and small, emphasis is being placed on the need for a skilled workforce to meet this demand. The sector requires a diverse range of professionals such as engineers, technicians, operators, scientists, contractors, regulators and decision-makers, all with the skills needed to guide and manage new generations of reactors.
This is where GIFEN’s MATCH program comes in. It serves as a strategic framework for forecasting industrial skill and resource requirements over the next ten years, and for directing actions to meet these needs. Working with all the players in the sector, the program identifies actions to develop resources, operational excellence and economic sustainability.
With this strategic partnership in place, France and Canada are joining forces to meet future demands for skilled manpower, thus promoting the efficiency of new nuclear projects both nationally and internationally.
"In this context, I2EN, GIFEN, CNA and OCNI have agreed to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in workforce planning and human capacity development in the nuclear industry. Thanks to these joint efforts, the 2024 Franco-Canadian Nuclear Workforce Development Partnership between I2EN and UNENE gains a broader scope to address the common challenge of training and education programs with the right skills, at the right time."
"The French nuclear industry is open to the international scene, and GIFEN is developing peer-to-peer relationships to strengthen links between French industry and its counterparts. We are therefore particularly enthusiastic about supporting the development of this Franco-Canadian skills partnership to improve the performance of both our sectors."
"The Canadian Nuclear Industries Organization is the voice of the Canadian nuclear supply chain, and we're pleased to be working with our partners in Canada and France to improve workforce planning and human capacity development. Canada and France have ambitious nuclear programs that will require many highly skilled workers, including some we can train from other industries, taking advantage of OCNI's Ready4SMR programming."
"This strategic partnership marks an important step in addressing the workforce challenges facing our industry. As Canada moves forward with its nuclear program, including potential refurbishments and new builds, workforce development remains one of our top priorities. By creating this forum for dialogue between I2EN, GIFEN, CNA and OCNI, we can explore opportunities to share ideas and lessons learned from our respective national experiences. This collaboration represents our shared commitment to ensuring that the nuclear industry has the talent it needs to deliver on its clean energy promise."
The Groupement des Industriels Français de l’Énergie Nucléaire(GIFEN) represents and federates the French nuclear industry, which employs over 200,000 professionals. It brings together over 600 member companies, including operators, large corporations and SMEs through the supply chain, as well as trade associations, covering all aspects of civil nuclear power generation. It serves as a unified trade association for the sector, supporting the development of workforce and industrial capabilities.
TheCanadian Nuclear Association(CNA) is the national trade association representing the Canadian nuclear industry, advocating for policies and regulations that support the growth of the sector. It brings together over 100 member organizations, including utilities, reactor designers, engineering firms, suppliers, academic institutions and unions, covering the entire nuclear supply chain, from uranium mining to power generation.
TheOrganization of Canadian Nuclear Industries(OCNI) represents and advocates for Canada’s nuclear supply chain, bringing together over 250 member companies, including manufacturers, engineering firms and service providers. These members employ more than 15,000 highly skilled professionals and support large reactor and small modular reactor (SMR) technologies nationally and internationally. OCNI launched its Ready4SMR program in 2022 to support the development of a pan-Canadian supply chain, which can sustain the development of skilled labour and jobs for all of Canada’s nuclear programs.