Canada has spent decades calling itself an energy powerhouse while not exactly behaving like one.
Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to change that.
At the Canada Investment Summit, Carney laid out an unusually broad definition of an energy superpower. Canada would expand oil exports to Asia, double liquefied natural gas exports to 50 million tonnes annually by 2030, double the electricity grid, and build far more nuclear power.
“That is what an energy superpower looks like when it decides to act like one.”
The interesting bit for investors is that Carney wasn’t talking only about oil and pipelines.
He specifically promised to build nuclear power “across the value chain,” while expanding Canada’s already world-leading uranium production.
That makes one TSX stock particularly hard to ignore, and that’s Cameco (TSX: CCO).
Source: Getty Images
An energy superpower needs more electricity
Canada wants more artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, factories, mines and electrified transportation. All of them need power.
Carney told investors Canada intends to double its electricity grid, arguing, “If you need clean, affordable power, and who doesn’t, Canada is your answer.”
Nuclear fits neatly into that plan because reactors can produce enormous quantities of electricity around the clock. Unlike wind and solar generation, they don’t need the weather to cooperate before the data centre can finish whatever mysterious thing its servers are doing.
More reactors, however, require more uranium. Canada happens to be one of the world’s major suppliers, which brings us back to Cameco.
Why I’d buy Cameco
Cameco doesn’t simply dig uranium out of Saskatchewan. The company operates across the nuclear fuel cycle through uranium mining, fuel services, and its ownership interest in Westinghouse, one of the world’s major nuclear reactor technology companies.
That means Cameco can benefit from nuclear expansion in more than one way. Its uranium mines supply the fuel. Its fuel-services business helps prepare that material for reactors. Westinghouse provides technology and services to nuclear facilities.
Even better, Canada’s energy-superpower strategy is already producing contracts. Earlier this year, Canada and India announced a $2.6 billion agreement for Cameco to supply India with nearly 22 million pounds of uranium between 2027 and 2035. That’s exactly what becoming an energy superpower should look like for investors – Canadian resources seeking long-term global customers.
The uranium business is already working
Cameco still expects its uranium segment to produce between 19.5 million and 21.5 million pounds attributable to the company in 2026 despite operational disruptions earlier this year. Meanwhile, first-half adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) from uranium reached $676 million, up from $641 million a year earlier.
Cameco also finished June with $1.1 billion in cash against roughly $1 billion of total debt, giving it financial flexibility as the nuclear cycle expands. But, Cameco isn’t cheap. The shares recently traded around $130, or roughly 68 times forward earnings. That’s a rich valuation even for a company sitting directly in the middle of a global nuclear revival.
There has at least been a pullback. Cameco remains roughly 29% below its 52-week high near $183, giving long-term investors a more appealing entry point than they had earlier this year. Uranium prices could still fall, reactor projects can take years to complete, and Cameco’s quarterly earnings can be lumpy depending on delivery schedules.
Bottom line
I wouldn’t buy Cameco because Ottawa used the words “energy superpower.” I’d buy it because governments around the world are already building more nuclear power, Cameco already supplies the fuel, and Canada’s policy is now pushing in precisely the same direction.
An energy superpower needs something to keep the lights on. Cameco happens to sell it.
