Electrifying Canada positions Canada to lead in the race to net zero.
Montreal, QC – The Transition Accelerator is bringing together nearly thirty organizations from finance, industry, organized labour, Indigenous communities, and civil society to jump-start Canada’s clean electricity future. Electrifying Canada convenes the key actors for planning, financing and building the electricity system of the future.
While there’s no single path to achieving Canada’s net-zero ambitions, electrification is a cost-effective and dependable way to decarbonize large parts of our economy, including high-emitting sectors. A low-carbon grid is the backbone of future economic prosperity. However, electrification is not happening at the pace and scale needed to meet the challenges of the future.
By fostering dialogue between partners on the supply, demand, and finance sides of the electricity sector, Electrifying Canada is positioning Canada to compete in the net-zero economy. This work is made even more pressing in the face of fast-forming global low-carbon supply chains. Tremendous economic opportunity exists by harnessing and growing Canada’s non-emitting electricity to meet new demand.
“This next phase for Electrifying Canada is a result of many partners doubling down on a commitment to collaborate,” says Moe Kabbara, Vice President at The Transition Accelerator. “Developing a consistent forum for information sharing and collaboration will bring us closer to overcoming the barriers to building a future-ready electricity system. Electrifying Canada brings together the key voices that will get this done.”
The Transition Accelerator is a pan-Canadian organization dedicated to identifying and advancing viable pathways to Canada’s 2050 climate targets. It works with stakeholders in government, industry, and beyond to find and implement practical solutions to the challenges of the net-zero transition.
“Building a reliable and resilient grid to power the net-zero industrial future is one of the most important challenges of our time; This analysis supports our efforts at BMO to be our clients’ lead partner in the transition to a net-zero world,” says Susan McGeachie, head of the BMO Climate Institute. “We are looking forward to working with The Transition Accelerator to continue advancing Canada’s climate goals.”
“Electrification presents incredible opportunities for Canada, particularly to attract new businesses and international investment,” says Francis Bradley, president and CEO of Electricity Canada. “For Canada to stay competitive in a low-carbon economy, we need to effectively build more non-emitting electricity resources, faster—and we need to grow a skilled workforce to achieve that.”
Canada’s electricity landscape is complex, and coordinating between provincial governments, regulators, utilities, and planning bodies to align outlooks and investments with economy-wide targets won’t happen overnight. That’s exactly why Electrifying Canada’s sustained, collaborative approach is needed. By bringing together leading experts and sector partners from across Canada, the initiative aims to solve entrenched coordination challenges while identifying new projects and financing opportunities.
“At the Ivey Foundation we are doubling down on accelerating Canada’s transition to a decarbonized economy,” says Dr. Bruce Lourie, President of the Ivey Foundation, one of The Transition Accelerator’s major funders. “Right now, technology is not the biggest barrier to meeting our net-zero goals. To build a right-sized clean grid we need exactly the kind of cross-sector coordination and collaboration Electrifying Canada will undertake.”
Electrifying Canada partners are:
- BMO
- Cameco
- Canadian Climate Institute
- Canadian Nuclear Association
- Canadian Renewable Energy Association
- Dunsky Energy + Climate
- Electricity Canada
- Electricity Human Resources Canada
- Energy Modelling Hub
- First Nations Major Projects Coalition
- Hydro One
- IBEW CANADA
- Innergex
- International Institute for Sustainable Development
- Ivey Foundation
- Marine Renewables Canada
- Net-Zero Atlantic
- Ontario Power Generation
- The Pembina Institute
- QUEST Canada
- RBC Tech for Nature
- Rewiring America
- Rio Tinto
- Scotiabank
- Teck
- Trottier Family Foundation
- Waterpower Canada