OTTAWA | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHINAABEG PEOPLE

More than 100 groups from throughout Canada are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government to prioritize building out Canada’s east-west electricity grid with renewable energy, while upholding workers’ and Indigenous rights.

In a letter to the prime minister, climate, community and Indigenous groups say an east-west electricity grid backed by renewable power will bring a significant number of new jobs, improved health, affordability and national security benefits to communities and businesses in Canada.

Canadian provinces are significantly more interconnected with the United States than with one another, with over 30 cross-border transmission lines. Canada’s electricity needs are projected to double or even triple before 2050, due to increasing electrification of industry, transportation and heating.

The federal government campaigned on this issue during the 2025 election. The coalition is calling for an east-west electricity grid that upholds workers’ rights and for any process to build these projects to uphold the legal and inherent Indigenous rights of the nations on whose territories these projects are being considered, while prioritizing Indigenous and community ownership of projects.

The coalition is calling for more transmission lines across Canada to allow for more renewable energy to be integrated into our electricity system, improve reliability by connecting regions and improve affordability by sharing lower-cost power.

Stephen Thomas, Clean Energy Manager, David Suzuki Foundation, said:

“Building an east-west electricity grid across Canada is a huge opportunity that will improve our energy security and create thousands of jobs. With demand for power going up, our electricity system needs to be powered by renewable energy, not fossil fuels. A renewable-backed electricity grid will lower people’s energy bills while limiting environmental harm and pollution.
“We are united in our call for an east-west electricity grid and all required projects to uphold workers’ and Indigenous rights. We need a grid that connects people, protects the climate and respects communities.”

Amara Possian, Canada Lead at 350.org, said:

“A renewably-powered east-west electricity grid would ensure that every Canadian has access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity, protecting the climate and reducing our vulnerability to Trump’s aggression. We urge the government to spend what it takes to build out this transmission infrastructure, while aligning with climate science’s call for a fossil fuel phase out, respecting the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous nations, and putting public interest before corporate profit.”

Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Executive Director, Sacred Earth, said:

“Now is the moment to build a clean national energy grid that upholds Indigenous inherent and legal rights. Despite the destruction and harm that Canada’s extractive industries have perpetuated on Indigenous communities, we continue to protect and steward our homelands. Today, Indigenous communities in Canada are leading a just transition. Canada can join us by committing to an east-west grid that fuels renewable electricity, supports communities and workers alike, recognizes Indigenous leadership and upholds Free, Prior and Informed consent.”

Dr. Joe Vipond, former President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), said:

“When governments in Canada shift from polluting fossil fuels to clean energy, everyone wins. By phasing out coal, Alberta, Ontario and the federal government chose to tackle the climate crisis while preventing premature deaths, asthma attacks, and a range of other health harms. A clean, connected east-west electricity grid is the crucial nation-building project to propel Canada towards a healthier economy and planet.”

Zoe Grams, Executive Director, Climate Caucus, said:

“Hundreds of mayors and councillors across the country have called for an east-west electricity grid because it will create jobs, reduce energy bills, bolster communities, deepen reconciliation and increase national security. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build energy infrastructure that meets the problems our communities face today while investing in our long-term futures. We ask the Prime Minister to realise this bold, nation-building vision that will benefit Canadians coast to coast to coast.”

Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada, said:

“A renewable-powered east-west electricity grid would build the backbone for a cleaner, more resilient Canadian economy. Building an east-west grid would bring affordable, reliable power to communities, while creating good, unionized jobs and lowering fossil fuel pollution. This is our chance to imagine a new kind of nation-building project—one that doesn’t rely on extraction and exploitation, but respects Indigenous rights and puts people and the planet first.”

Thomas Arnason McNeil, Senior Energy Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre, said:

“For too long, Atlantic Canadians have been denied opportunities to trade electricity with the rest of Canada. Many power grids in our region are functionally isolated from the rest of the country, forcing us to rely on expensive fossil fuels like coal and gas, which drives up our electricity rates.

“As we work to harness our tremendous wind energy resources and forge new economic partnerships with indigenous nations in Atlantic Canada, we look to the federal government for support. Not since John Diefenbaker has the government of Canada envisioned a national power grid, allowing provinces to trade electricity and evenly distribute access to clean, affordable, reliable power. If the federal government is ready to act, we are ready to get to work.”

Chris Severson-Baker, Executive Director, the Pembina Institute, said:

“The global transition to clean energy is accelerating. In 2025, becoming an “energy superpower”– as Canada’s new government has stated intentions to do – means equipping ourselves to lead in that world. Building a robust, modern, and resilient economy will require growing an abundant supply of non-emitting electricity centered on renewables, energy storage, energy efficiency, demand response, and major build-out of the national transmission system. If there’s ever been a time to bolster Canada’s national security through an energy project that makes us more prosperous, healthier and more resilient to an increasingly turbulent world, while reducing emissions and doing our part to address the climate crisis, this is it – and the project is clean power.”

The letter to the prime minister calls on the federal government to:

  • Commit to significant federal funding toward permitting, planning and constructing strategic interprovincial and intra-provincial transmission projects.
  • Uphold legal and inherent rights for Indigenous communities throughout Canada. This includes recognizing Indigenous nations’ leadership role in clean electricity in Canada, expanding support for Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led electricity projects and upholding Canada’s highest standards and responsibilities under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in upholding Indigenous free, prior and informed consent.
  • Implement key labour supports as a condition for federal funding on electricity projects, including prevailing wage requirements, training capacity and other just transition priorities.
  • Alongside this work on transmission and generation, commit to financial support for energy efficiency, demand-side management, energy storage and other electricity system upgrades in line with delivering affordable, reliable, clean electricity to everyone living in Canada.
  • Update and implement Canada’s Electricity Strategy. This includes implementing the Clean Electricity Regulations, and continuing to advance Canada’s work to achieve a net-zero electricity grid.

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Background:

  • The full letter with all 105 signatories is available. 
  • Upgrading Canada’s east-west transmission grids has been the topic of study by the federal government, planning bodies and advisory councils for over a decade, consistently showing significant benefits that lower energy costs, increase electricity system reliability and allow for more low-cost renewables to be connected.

For more information, please contact:
Melanie Karalis, mkaralis@davidsuzuki.org, 416-348-9885 x222