Achieving a Net-Zero Canadian Electricity Grid by 2035

By Binnu Jeyakumar - Pembina Institute, July 2022

The Government of Canada has committed that, by 2035, the country’s electricity grid will produce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This document sets out the Pembina Institute’s understanding of what constitutes a net-zero grid; the environmental, economic and social benefits net-zero electricity can offer to Canadians; and some of the key milestones that must be met by governments and industry to facilitate the creation of a truly net-zero grid by 2035.

If Canada achieves this objective, it will have a significant and enduring downward impact on the carbon footprints of all Canadians, and allow Canada to position itself as an international leader in clean electricity.

Achieving a net-zero electricity grid will provide environmental, social and economic benefits for Canada and Canadians. These benefits include improvements to:

Reliability and resilience

Diversifying the generation mix, investing in energy efficiency, modernizing the grid, and enabling demand-side management will improve grid flexibility and reliability.

Affordability

Pembina Institute analyses have found that a clean energy portfolio consisting of renewables, storage, energy efficiency and demand-side management can be cheaper than gas-fired generation, while providing the same energy services. Decoupling Canada’s grid from emitting forms of generation, such as gas-fired power, also helps to shield consumers from the price volatility of an electricity grid that is tied to global fossil fuel markets.

Jobs and economic development

While jobs in the traditional energy sector will decline, research indicates that job growth in the clean energy economy will outpace those losses. Between 2020 and 2030, an estimated 125,800 fossil fuel-related jobs will be lost, but 208,700 jobs in clean energy will be added during that time.

Equity

The net-zero grid transition presents an opportunity to address the systemic inequalities that have historically existed in the traditional energy system. This includes providing equitable access to jobs in the clean energy sector to those who have been traditionally underrepresented in Canada’s resource extraction industries.

Download a copy of this publication here (PDF).