The minister outlined ways in which the government may restrict eligibility for the program, including looking at how long a business has operated and whether it has a history of layoffs.

Under the funding agreement, the federal government will provide $23 million toward the project, and the city will contribute the remaining $125.7 million.

The work, which began in 2015, involved widening Cabana Road West to four traffic lanes from Provincial Road to Highway 3.

Nuclear power reactors provide about 14 per cent of Canada's total electricity. In Ontario, where most of the reactors are located, the proportion is more than 50 per cent.

A big part of the challenge with ramping up modular construction is that it costs a lot to get a factory going, and it needs steady demand to pay for all the fixed costs.