Oakville company doubles in size thanks to Darlington Refurb

The Darlington Refurbishment project has more than doubled the number of employees at a Greater Toronto Area company.

Laker Energy Products, based in Oakville, supplies key CANDU reactor components critical to Canada’s largest clean energy project, including end fittings, liners, channel closures, and feeder material and components.​

The company started in 1995, supplying material and parts to the CANDU nuclear industry in Canada and abroad. In 2015, Laker purchased and moved to its current manufacturing plant as a direct result of its planned work to support the Darlington Refurbishment. The new 66,000 square foot facility allowed Laker to triple its machining capacity.

Christ Hughes is the founder and CEO of Laker Energy Products. When the new facility opened two years ago, Laker had approximately 40 employees and Hughes anticipated that number would double. Laker’s staffing level now sits at about 90 people, and it’s expected to increase to over 100 in the coming months.

“These are highly skilled technical jobs; experienced machinists, welders, engineers, and engineering technologists,” Hughes said. “If not for the Darlington Refurbishment, we’d be a much smaller company.”

A recent closure of an aerospace company threatened several people with unemployment, but Laker was able to step in.

“Many of their employees came here to work and we are happy to have them,” said Hughes. “That’s a direct result of our Refurbishment work.”

Laker is one of more than 60 Ontario-based companies engaged in the Darlington Refurbishment. The company’s role in the project was recently recognized at an event held by the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries.

The Darlington Refurbishment is having a province-wide impact, with about 96 per cent of the project’s suppliers located in Ontario.

“It’s benefitting towns and cities across the province,” said Ted Gruetzner, OPG Vice President, Stakeholder Relations. “We’re working with our contract suppliers and partners as one team to deliver this project safely, with quality, on time and on budget.”