Aecon Adds SMR, Critical Minerals Work as Backlog Hits Record

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Aecon's role in the growing field of nuclear SMR development is proving profitable, along with a series of major acquisitions in 2025.

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SMR Work, Acquisitions Drive Growth

Aecon Group Incorporated boasted a record-high year-end backlog for 2025, and executives are optimistic the company's growth will continue in 2026 following a series of acquisitions. Most of these were in the U.S., where the Canada-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm increasingly is turning its attention. Industrial Info is tracking more than US$31 billion worth of active and proposed projects featuring Aecon's services, more than US$17 billion of which is attributed to projects in the power-generation sector.

At the end of 2025, Aecon's backlog stood at C$10.7 billion (US$7.9 billion) worth of projects, a 61% increase from the end of 2024. The company reported a C$15.2 million (US$11.9 billion) profit attributable to shareholders, compared with net loss of C$59.5 million (US$43.8 million) at the end of the previous year.

In a quarterly earnings-related conference call, Jean-Louis Servranckx, the chief executive officer of Aecon, championed the company's nuclear-development business: "We further advanced our nuclear leadership in North America with our partnership selection to deliver the G7's first grid-scale small modular reactor, or SMR, at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station" in Bowmanville, Ontario.

Aecon currently is performing EPC services for Ontario Power Generation Incorporated's Unit 5 addition at Darlington, the first of four new 300-megawatt (MW) reactors set for the complex. Aecon and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, which is serving as technology provider, also are slated to develop units 6, 7 and 8, which are in the lengthy permitting process.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant and Project databases can learn more about the Darlington projects--including capacities, investment values and necessary equipment--from a plant profile and detailed reports on Unit 5 and units 6, 7 and 8.

Servranckx also noted Aecon completed what he called "the world's largest nuclear refurbishment program" at Darlington "ahead of schedule and below budget" earlier this year. "This is the first time we have good news on a big nuclear project for the last 20 years," he said in the earnings call.

Cascade Nuclear Partners, a partnership comprising Aecon, Kiewit Corporation, and Black & Veatch Construction Incorporated, was awarded a development-phase contract to perform EPC services for Energy Northwest's Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Richland, Washington, an SMR project proposed to be built within a mile of Energy Northwest's Columbia Nuclear Generating Station. The three-phase project is scheduled to be built over a span of seven years, with each phase providing 320 MW of generation.

Subscribers can learn more from a plant profile and detailed reports on Phase I, Phase II and Phase III.

By the Numbers

• US$31 billion: Total investment value of projects featuring Aecon's services, as tracked by Industrial Info
• US$7.9 billion: Reported value of Aecon's backlog at the end of 2025
• US$3.97 billion: Aecon's record annual revenue for 2025

Potash Picks Up Pace

Aecon reported record annual revenue of C$5.4 billion (US$3.97 billion) for 2025, a 28% increase from the previous year. "Aecon expects 2026 revenue to exceed 2025 levels on the strength of its record backlog, strategic positioning in sectors with attractive demand profiles, robust recurring revenue programs, and a healthy pipeline of project opportunities," Servranckx said in a quarterly press release.

Earlier this week, Aecon announced it would acquire Duna Services LLC, a U.S.-based transmission and distribution (T&D) service provider. Aecon also expanded through major acquisitions in 2025, including two U.S.-based firms: Bodell Construction and Trinity Industrial Services. The acquisitions significantly boosted revenues in Aecon's industrial business, as did an increase in field construction work on critical mineral facilities in Western Canada.

Among the critical-mineral projects featuring Aecon's services is BHP Billiton Canada Incorporated's Jansen Potash Mine & Mill in Leroy, Saskatchewan, the first phase of which has been under construction since mid-2022. When combined with the second phase, which is set to begin construction in a few years, it is designed to produce up to 8.5 million tonnes per year of compacted granular potash.

Subscribers can learn more about the Jansen development from a plant profile and detailed reports on Phase I and Phase II.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed projects from Aecon.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Key Takeaways

• Aecon expects 2026 revenue to exceed 2025 levels, partly due to a record-high backlog.
• At least three of Aecon's recent acquisitions are U.S.-based engineering firms.
• The company also is accelerating its nuclear-facility developments.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR News Intelligence) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).