Nuclear Weapons
Nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons threaten the existence of our planet and all life on it. These weapons continue to be a cornerstone of national security policy for many states—even those that do not directly possess them. Within NATO, a self-declared nuclear-weapon military alliance of which Canada is a member, a nuclear-weapon state can make its weapons available to other alliance members.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), to which all NATO members are party, entered into force in 1970 but has been unsuccessful in eliminating nuclear weapons. Project Ploughshares actively monitors developments related to the NPT.
Working with international civil society organizations, Project Ploughshares participated actively in the development of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force in 2021. Canada has not acceded to this treaty, nor have any members of NATO.
Ploughshares urges Canada to join this new treaty and to be more active in creating the conditions for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, especially within NATO.
Latest Publications on Nuclear Weapons
- Deliver or Collapse: Five Critical Challenges for an NPT under Strain
- Canada must resist Trump’s flawed vision of peace through strength
- Hope for a troubled world
- A Five-Point Agenda for Renewed Canadian Action on Nuclear Disarmament
- The endless dance of NPT meetings
- Statement to the 2nd Preparatory Meeting for the 2026 NPT Review Conference
- No, there are no nukes in space – but we still have a weapons problem
- A challenging year ahead for nuclear disarmament
- An indictment of non-compliance: States Parties to the TPNW accuse nuclear-weapon states of legal breach
- As the Oppenheimer buzz fades, the nuclear weapons threat remains