Electricity · Canada · 2023
One country, many power grids
Canada’s national electricity mix is dominated by hydro. Province by province, the map is far more complicated.
Canada generated 620 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023, and 66 per cent came from renewable sources. That national figure hides a federation of sharply different power systems.
Hydroelectricity dominates Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador. Ontario depends on nuclear power for most of its generation. Alberta and Saskatchewan have relied more heavily on fossil fuels, while Prince Edward Island’s local generation is overwhelmingly wind.
What source defines each provincial grid?
Focus or hover over a province or territory to see its dominant generation pattern. Colours are categorical, not a renewable ranking.
Hydro-dominant grid Alberta
Fossil fuels dominant in 2021; coal generation ended in 2024. Saskatchewan
Fossil-fuel dominant grid Manitoba
Hydro-dominant grid Ontario
55% nuclear in 2021; 91% zero-carbon Quebec
94% hydro in 2021 New Brunswick
Mixed: nuclear, fossil fuels and hydro Prince Edward Island
Wind dominates local generation Nova Scotia
Fossil-fuel dominant grid Newfoundland and Labrador
Hydro-dominant grid Yukon
72% hydro in 2021 Northwest Territories
Mixed hydro and thermal generation Nunavut
Petroleum-based local grids
■ Hydro ■ Nuclear ■ Wind ■ Fossil fuels ■ Mixed
Source: Canada Energy Regulator provincial and territorial energy profiles, principally 2021 generation data.
Hydro makes the national average look simple
Hydroelectricity supplied 58 per cent of Canadian generation in 2023. Nuclear power, concentrated in Ontario and New Brunswick, formed the second major low-emitting pillar. Wind had reached 6 per cent nationally, while solar supplied 1 per cent.
Canada’s electricity generation mix, 2023
Share of national generation. Smaller sources are grouped where the CER reports them together.
Source: Canada Energy Regulator, Renewable Energy in Canada. Non-renewable is calculated as the remainder of total generation; shares are rounded.
Wind and solar are growing from very different bases
Between 2010 and 2023, wind generation rose from 8.6 to 40.1 TWh—a 364 per cent increase. Solar grew from 0.1 to 4.9 TWh. The percentage change for solar is dramatic, but its absolute contribution remained much smaller than wind or hydro.
Growth in wind and solar generation
Terawatt-hours generated in 2010 and 2023.
Source: Canada Energy Regulator, Renewable Energy in Canada; units are TWh.
Geography sets the starting point
Large river systems and reservoir sites underpin hydro-heavy grids. Ontario’s reactor fleet supports nuclear baseload. Prairie fuel resources and market structures shaped a different path in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where wind and solar have also expanded rapidly.
A single renewable percentage cannot describe Canadian electricity. The more useful question is where each grid starts—and which technologies can change it.
Data & Methodology
National 2023 generation and renewable figures come from the Canada Energy Regulator’s Renewable Energy in Canada analysis, based primarily on Statistics Canada tables 25-10-0020-01, 25-10-0084-01 and 25-10-0028-01. Provincial classifications use the CER’s Provincial and Territorial Energy Profiles, principally 2021 generation data.
The map assigns one broad category to the source that best characterizes each jurisdiction; “mixed” is used where no single source provides a sufficient summary. It is schematic and does not represent transmission lines or generating facilities. National shares are rounded, and small categories are omitted from the compact chart.