Question Period Note: Clean Electricity Regulations

In December 2024, the Government of Canada published the final Clean Electricity Regulations. The Clean Electricity Regulations are an integral part of the Government of Canada’s Clean Electricity Strategy and puts the electricity sector on a path to net-zero by 2050.

On May 1, 2025, the Province of Alberta announced their intention to challenge the constitutionality of the Clean Electricity Regulations in the Alberta Court of Appeal.

• Clean electricity saves businesses and households money and reduces emissions and air pollution. It also makes Canada a more competitive and attractive place to invest since clean power is increasingly the lowest-cost electricity option.
• Demand for electricity is expected to double in Canada by 2050. Ensuring the coming grid expansion is clean is crucial to Canada’s competitive advantage. The Clean Electricity Regulations will enable a reliable and affordable transition to a net-zero grid by 2050.

• In December 2024, the Government of Canada published Powering Canada’s Future: A Clean Electricity Strategy, which brings together significant measures that the federal government is taking to help support the build-out of a clean, reliable, and affordable electricity sector while articulating the federal government’s role in growing the grid and managing demand, providing policy certainty, and collaborating on tailored approaches for every region.
• The Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), which were finalized in December 2024 are an important element of the Strategy. The CER provides an early signal, and policy certainty for investing towards a net-zero transition.
• The CER is complemented by over $60 billion in funding over the next 10 years to support the electricity sector in their transition to net-zero by 2050, even as demand for electricity grows. This includes a series of investment tax credits and concessional loans and funding programs.
• The Clean Electricity Regulations were developed under the long-established federal authority to prohibit releases of harmful pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that the federal government has constitutional jurisdiction to enact prohibitions for the purpose of preventing the releases of toxic substances into the environment.
• Following feedback during the regulatory development process, a significant number of regulatory compliance flexibilities have been provided in the final regulations to enable electricity providers to continue to deliver reliable and affordable power for Canadians, recognizing unique regional circumstances.
• Under CEPA, equivalency agreements may be negotiated with interested provinces to stand down the federal regulations where provincial rules, tailored to regional considerations, can ensure equivalent or better environmental outcomes.
• Demand for electricity is expected to double over the coming 25 years due to increasing demand from a growing population and new drivers like artificial intelligence and data centres.
• Global clean energy investment reached $2.1 Trillion in 2024—nearly double that of fossil fuels—with Canada ranking 8th at $35 Billion. Canadian jobs in clean energy are set to grow 7% a year from 509,000 in 2025 to 2.7 million in a net-zero 2050.

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