Canada’s Electrification Advantage in the Race to Net-Zero

The report argues that while Canada has a clean electricity advantage, it faces a significant risk of complacency. It identifies three cross-cutting barriers: a 'plug-or-socket' dilemma between supply and demand, policy uncertainty, and a focus on 'wild card' technologies over 'safe bets' like electrification. To overcome these, the report proposes five catalysts: business-led near-term electrification plans, net-zero mandates for utilities and regulators, alignment of utility planning with net-zero pathways, the implementation of performance standards and ZEV mandates, and the use of innovative public-private-Indigenous financing to crowd in private investment.

• Canada's electricity system is already over 80% non-emitting, providing an early advantage for decarbonizing other sectors, but the country must replace the remaining 20% of polluting generation to reach a net-zero emitting system by 2035.
• Achieving net-zero by 2050 will require a massive increase in electricity's role in the energy system, with electricity's share of final energy demand expected to double or triple over the next 30 years.
• There is a significant gap between current utility planning and the requirements for net-zero; while utilities plan for 40% growth in electricity output by 2050, net-zero pathways require growth between 65% and 115%.
• Business electrification is hindered by a 'plug-or-socket' dilemma where consumers and utilities wait for the other to move first, as well as uncertainty regarding the long-term stability of the federal carbon price.
• The report recommends that provincial governments modernize regulator and utility mandates to require integrated decision-making across electricity and natural gas systems to support economy-wide net-zero goals.
• To provide investment certainty, the report calls for the implementation of building emissions performance standards, zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales mandates for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and a backstop for the carbon pollution pricing signal.
• Electrification is projected to create significant employment opportunities, with forecasts indicating more than 200,000 new clean energy jobs by 2030 under the federal government's 2019 climate plan.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2022). Canada’s Electrification Advantage in the Race to Net-Zero. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/canada-electrification-advantage-net-zero-en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Canada’s Electrification Advantage in the Race to Net-Zero. 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/canada-electrification-advantage-net-zero-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Canada’s Electrification Advantage in the Race to Net-Zero |date=May 2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/canada-electrification-advantage-net-zero-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2022canadas, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Canada’s Electrification Advantage in the Race to Net-Zero}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-05/canada-electrification-advantage-net-zero-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }