Time to Build | Electricity Canada

October 29, 2025

1:00 pm EDT

Ottawa, Ontario

By 2050, Canada needs to more than double the amount of electricity currently being supplied to meet the growing demand for electricity to power its economy.

Following the Electricity Roundtable, join Electricity Canada at the National Arts Centre for this half-day symposium where we bring together government, industry experts, leaders in the electricity sector and major stakeholders to determine what is needed to get building the next phase of Canada’s electricity grid.

Agenda

1:00 pm

Welcome

1:05 pm

Keynote Address: The Opportunity

By 2050, Canada needs to more than double the amount of electricity currently being supplied to meet the growing demand for electricity to power the Canada’s economy. This isn’t simply a challenge—this is a call to action to build something important on a national scale.

Presented by

Jennifer Williams, President and CEO, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

1:20 pm

Panel: Overcoming the Bottlenecks

Canada is facing the interconnected challenges of regulatory approvals, permitting delays, labour constraints, supply chain pressures, and financing gaps. All these obstacles collectively stifle the pace and cost of building Canada's clean electricity future. This panel will look at the barriers to building—and explore possible solutions.

Presented by

Brian Bentz, President and CEO Alectra Inc.

Monica Gattinger, Director for Science, Society and Policy, Positive Energy

Philippe Dunsky, Founder and President Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors

Carla Vicente, Country Managing Director, Hitachi Energy, Canada

Moderator: Jay Khosla, Executive Director, Economic and Energy Policy, Public Policy Forum

2:00 pm

Navigating the way ahead

Three speakers will examine three major disruptions to the electricity system—wildfires, cyber threats, and geopolitics— and examine the solutions that will keep Canada’s grid resilient and secure.

Presented by

Damien Quentin, Vice President of Strategy, Engineered Intelligence

Jim Reid, Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Chief Legal Officer, Fortis Inc.

2:30 pm

Panel Discussion: Load Growth and Economic Development

Surging electricity demand—driven by industrial growth, AI, and advanced manufacturing—is reshaping the grid and redefining the relationship between load growth and economic development. This panel will look at the key drivers for this growth, and what this means for the future economy.

Presented by

Laura Arnold, Vice President, External Affairs, Regulatory and Market Policy, TransAlta

Heather Ferguson, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Corporate Affairs, OPG

Michael Gullo, Vice President, Policy, Business Council of Canada

Pauline Martin, Leader, Government Industry Advisory, Americas – Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft

Moderator: Adam Radwanski, Columnist, Globe & Mail

3:10 pm

BREAK

4:00 pm

Panel Discussion: The Pan-Canadian Electricity Grid

For decades, Canada’s electricity grid mostly travelled North-South. Given the disparate nature of Canada’s electricity system, how do we begin building more East-West connections and secure our energy sovereignty?

Presented by