Carney to release details of plan to double Canada’s electricity grid

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“So if you ask me for one, that would be the area where we’d like to make more progress.”

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For months, Carney has been signalling his plan to double Canada’s grid, expanding hydro, other renewables and nuclear power.

The Liberal election platform last year promised to build out Canada’s east-west electricity grid. Currently most of Canada’s electricity connections go north-south, not east-west, giving provinces limited capacity to share power generation with each other.

The platform said the project would strengthen Canada’s energy security and create “one economy.”

Last year the Canadian Nuclear Association commissioned a study suggesting demand for power will double, or even triple, by 2050.

Population growth, the expansion of electric vehicles, power-hungry data centres and industrial growth are all driving up the need for more power, and Canada has for years been looking to do it with non-emitting sources.

There is also a need to help remote communities with power security and affordability. Some remote communities, including all of Nunavut, still rely on diesel generation for their power, which is expensive and high in emissions.

The previous Liberal government had initially targeted to have a zero-emission electricity grid by 2035.

In the spring economic update on April 28, the government said it was planning to release a “discussion paper” to get input from provinces and territories on how to modernize the grid.

Energy Minister Tim Hodgson promised on April 29 to publish a nuclear strategy for the country before the end of the year. That plan is to focus not only on producing nuclear power domestically, but also using Canada’s nuclear technology and uranium resources to become a global supplier as well.

The federal government has also promised to work to expand nuclear power, including a deal with Alberta to develop the province’s own nuclear generation strategy with the goal of bringing nuclear power to the grid by 2050.

Electricity accounts for about seven per cent of Canada’s total emissions, a share that fell significantly with most provinces reducing, or even eliminating, coal as a power source.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2026.

— With files from Nick Murray

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press