National Infrastructure Assessment submission: Our Clean and Resilient Electric Future, Powered by Water

Ottawa, Ontario, July 14, 2021 – WaterPower Canada submitted a Brief to Infrastructure and Communities Canada in response to Engagement Paper on Canada’s first National Infrastructure Assessment, “Building the Canada We Want in 2050.”

This brief presents an overview of the scope of hydropower infrastructure in Canada and the key role it plays in our energy supply. It outlines this infrastructure’s resilience to climate change impacts, and the contribution it will make to climate change mitigation. Finally, it speaks to how the federal government can most fully empower our sector to continue to be a leader in renewable energy production, investment and job creation.

“As we build back from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is unprecedented urgency to advance the infrastructure projects and investments that will enable Canada to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and to compete in a low-carbon global economy,” said Patrick Bateman, Interim President. “WaterPower Canada is proud to take the opportunity presented by the Engagement Paper on Canada’s first National Infrastructure Assessment, “Building the Canada We Want in 2050,” to discuss the central role that the hydropower sector will play as the largest source of renewable energy, and resilient backbone of our energy supply.”

WaterPower Canada would like to thank our members who contributed with a range of hydropower infrastructure case studies, which further illustrate the ongoing development and diversification of the generation fleets our members own, and the multiplicity of values that they generate. These case studies represent a small segment of our sector’s projects that already contribute tens of billions of dollars to our GDP, and directly employ tens of thousands of people every year.

Read WPC’s brief, “Our Clean and Resilient Electric Future, Powered by Water,” here.

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