Kevin Thomas, chief executive officer of the Shareholder Association for Research & Education, warns that adopting a new federal electricity strategy is urgent for Canada’s competitiveness and growth; globe and mail frames electrification as the path to investment. He says grid constraints and slow transmission build-out are putting recent clean-economy gains at risk. Prime Minister Carney is developing an electricity strategy aimed at doubling supply to meet accelerating demand.
Globe And Mail: What the analysis finds
Kevin Thomas presents the report “Power at Risk: The Investment Case for a Clean Competitive Canada, ” arguing that “Canada’s next competitive advantage won’t be the amount of fossil fuels we can export; it will be the industry, investment and jobs we can attract by solidifying our clean electricity infrastructure, ” Kevin Thomas, chief executive officer, Shareholder Association for Research & Education. The report notes Canada’s electricity sector is already roughly 85-per-cent non-emitting and highlights resource strengths including uranium and critical minerals. It also cites that, since 2021, Canada has attracted an estimated $60-billion to $70-billion in announced capital investment across key clean economy sectors, which should create at least 26, 000 long-term direct jobs and additional supply-chain employment.
Immediate reactions from officials and analysts
“We need a new strategy that prioritizes clean electricity and transmission build-out across Canada, co-ordinated by a federal–provincial–territorial clean electricity table to tackle significant constraints on growth, ” Kevin Thomas, chief executive officer, Shareholder Association for Research & Education, writes in the report. Prime Minister Carney is cited as developing a national electricity strategy aimed at doubling supply, a move framed as necessary to reduce exposure to global energy shocks and to catalyze investment. The analysis in the report warns that grid constraints, interprovincial barriers and slow infrastructure build-out are eroding Canada’s clean electricity advantage and putting future investment at risk.
Quick context and what’s next
Global shifts toward electrification—driven by industry, transport and data-centre demand—mean reliable, low-carbon power is rising as a core investment criterion. The report highlights that more than 12, 000 companies, representing a significant share of global market capitalization, have set emissions-targets that increase demand for clean electricity. The paper calls for a coordinated federal–provincial–territorial response and transmission expansion to secure the investments already flowing into Canada’s clean sectors.
Looking forward, officials will watch whether Prime Minister Carney’s electricity plan advances the federal–provincial–territorial clean electricity table and accelerates transmission projects to unlock queued requests from energy-intensive industries. If the strategy to double supply is implemented and paired with the transmission and policy changes the report prescribes, Canada’s short-term advantages in low-emissions power and resource abundance could translate into longer-term industrial investment and jobs; globe and mail frames this pivot as central to securing that outcome.
