Fred Dermarkar was appointed as AECL’s President and CEO in February 2021 to lead the organization in its mission to drive nuclear innovation to deliver clean energy technologies and improve the quality of life of Canadians while caring for the land. AECL is a federal Crown Corporation that delivers most of its mandate through a long-term contract with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) for the management and operation of its sites.

Prior to joining AECL, Fred was President and CEO of the CANDU Owners Group (COG), where for almost seven years he led the not-for‐profit organization to advance collaboration between CANDU nuclear reactor operators in seven countries worldwide.

Fred has been working in the Canadian nuclear industry for more than 40 years. Prior to joining COG, he occupied a variety of key technical and senior leadership positions at Ontario Power Generation in support of the design, commissioning, operation and refurbishment of its CANDU reactors.

Fred has received the Canadian Nuclear Association’s Ian McRae award in recognition of his substantive engineering contributions, leadership and positive influence on the Canadian nuclear industry and the advancement of nuclear energy in Canada, and the Nuclear Excellence Award from the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).

Fred holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Toronto and is a registered professional engineer in the Province of Ontario.