On February 27, 2026, the Government of Ontario announced a provincial guarantee through the Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program (IOFP), administered by the Building Ontario Fund, to support a $250 million investment by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) to increase production of life-saving medical isotopes as part of its expanded partnership with Bruce Power. The provincial guarantee is the largest of its kind since the Indigenous loan guarantee program began in 2009. The expanded agreement replaces a 2019 arrangement and establishes the Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin Limited Partnership. Through SON's expanded economic participation, the partnership will support hundreds of jobs and build on Ontario's nuclear advantage, while a separate revenue-sharing agreement provides $10 million annually in direct community payments, shared equally between the Saugeen First Nation and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.
The investment supports expanded production of medical isotopes at Bruce Power, including cobalt-60, which is used in cancer treatment and the sterilization of medical equipment, and lutetium-177, which is used in precision oncology to treat prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours. Bruce Power produces isotopes using its Isotope Production System, developed in partnership with Isogen, a joint venture between Kinectrics and Framatome, and supplies cobalt-60 to Ottawa-based Nordion. The investment advances Ontario's plan to double medical isotope production by 2030. Administered by the Building Ontario Fund, the IOFP seeks to advance economic reconciliation and prosperity by enabling financial participation of Indigenous partners in Ontario-based infrastructure projects; as part of the 2025 Ontario Budget, the program was tripled to $3 billion and its scope expanded to include energy projects, critical minerals, and resource development. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, OMERS, the Power Workers' Union, and The Society of United Professionals, and its nuclear generating station supplies approximately 30 percent of Ontario's electricity.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP advised the Building Ontario Fund in connection with the provincial guarantee under the IOFP, with a team consisting of Ricco Bhasin (Corporate and Private Equity); Chris Bennett and Marta Rochkin (Financial Services); Will Heisey and Rosalind Hunter (Corporate); Daniel Mester (Financial Services); and Shawn Cymbalisty (Corporate). McMillan LLP acted as co-counsel to the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, with a team that included Julie Han, Michelle D. Boodhoo, Catherine Doyle, Sandra Zhao, Alex Grigg, Bukola Adelusi, Delina Wen, Kaileigh Dunn, and Laura Giesbrecht.
