The Department of Energy (DOE) is expanding its partnership with the Canadian province of Saskatchewan to establish a specialized educational framework for nuclear engineering and clean energy to bridge critical skills gap as the Philippines explores small-scale reactors.

A joint task force comprising the department, the Commission on Higher Education, and Saskatchewan-based academic institutions will develop a localized curriculum focused on nuclear engineering and safety management, the DOE said in a statement on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

The move comes one year after the two jurisdictions initialed a cooperation agreement and follows a 2025 memorandum of understanding between the Philippines and Canada.

The expanded collaboration targets the creation of a “train-the-trainer” program to equip Filipino educators with expertise in advanced clean energy. The initiative also includes technical-vocational cooperation between Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to prepare a specialized workforce for the energy transition.

Energy Undersecretary Mario Marasigan said the human capital programs are essential to sustaining the partnership, which was further refined during a recent joint working group meeting.

Marasigan noted that the priority is to ensure the transition is supported by capable institutions and a workforce prepared for the technical rigors of nuclear oversight.

Beyond education, the two parties are conducting joint research to assess the feasibility of deploying small modular reactors, or SMRs, and microreactors in the Philippines’ remote island grids.

These decentralized energy solutions are viewed as a potential fix for the high costs and unreliability of diesel-powered generation in isolated regions. The groups are also evaluating site requirements and technical strategies for the early retirement and repurposing of aging coal-fired power plants, which currently dominate the national power mix.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the cooperation helps build a necessary pipeline from high-level engineering to micro-credentials. The partnership also intends to mirror the standards and public engagement protocols used in Canada to ensure responsible energy development.

Saskatchewan, which possesses significant uranium reserves and a developed nuclear research ecosystem, is leveraging the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Regina, and Saskatchewan Polytechnic to support the Philippine program.

Ken Cheveldayoff, Saskatchewan ministry of advanced education said these institutions are central to building the technical workforce required for the emerging sector.

The Philippine government has earlier signaled interest in nuclear power to lower electricity rates, which remain among the highest in Southeast Asia

. While the cost of a full-scale nuclear rollout could reach hundreds of billions of pesos, the administration is prioritizing SMRs as a more modular and fiscally manageable entry point into the technology.