As more Canadians ride electrified public transit and shift to electric vehicles, more homeowners adopt electric heat pumps, and more businesses and industries green their operations, an abundant supply of clean, reliable and affordable electricity will be required.
Canada has built one of the cleanest electricity systems in the world with, more than 80 percent of our power coming from non-emitting sources, and we are well positioned to keep leading. The opportunity for this generation is to decarbonize what remains while dramatically increasing our supply of clean, reliable and affordable electricity to seize the economic and job-creating opportunities of a net-zero future.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, released Powering Canada Forward, the Government of Canada's vision for transforming Canada's electricity sector, to decarbonize our grids by 2035, keep our electricity systems reliable and ensure household energy costs are affordable. This project rivals any nation-building project in Canada's history.
Powering Canada Forward underscores the critical importance of decarbonizing Canada's electricity systems as a step toward achieving net-zero emissions across the economy by 2050 and ensuring a prosperous future for Canadians. To get there, the paper invites Canadians to join an important national conversation that will inform the development of Canada's first Clean Electricity Strategy to be released in 2024.
Powering Canada Forward recognizes the pace and scale required to transform Canada's electricity sector. The paper will inform how the federal government will accelerate work over the coming months with partners - including provinces, territories, Indigenous leaders, utilities, industry, private and financial sectors, unions, academics and civil society - to ensure Canadian competitiveness in a rapidly decarbonizing global economy while making life more affordable for energy consumers. This work will strengthen Indigenous partnerships, create good jobs and economic opportunity in every region of the country and aggressively tackle the climate crisis.
While provinces and territories are primarily responsible for electricity generation and delivery infrastructure within their borders, the federal government has a role in establishing environmental regulations and governing interprovincial power lines, regulating nuclear power, making strategic investments to achieve desired outcomes and facilitating collaboration with provincial and territorial counterparts. Just as Canadian governments of the past invested in national highways and railway networks, the federal government will work with provincial and territorial partners to build a clean, affordable and reliable electricity system for every region of the country while taking into account unique regional circumstances.
Creating a grid that can meet our electricity needs is a crucial step in Canada's efforts to grow the economy, make life more affordable and protect the environment.
