This essay was co-written by Colleen Giroux-Schmidt, senior vice-president at Innergex and Merran Smith, president of New Economy Canada. It was originally published by The Globe and Mail, May 14, 2026

Two questions burn at the top of Canada’s economic agenda: how to accelerate growth, and how to mobilize the capital to fund it. Increasingly, the answer to both hinges on something we have long taken for granted: electricity.

More and more, Canada’s economic agenda is pinned to projects that require abundant, cheap and low-carbon electricity. Critical minerals mining and processing, battery supply chains, data centres and next-generation steel all require enormous amounts of power. So will planned investments in Canada’s military and defence capabilities, from quantum computing to a stronger presence in the North.

That growing demand is what’s driving Canada’s new national electricity strategy, which Ottawa unveiled on Thursday. The plan aims to double electricity supply by 2050 and accelerate electrification across the country.

Read the full essay at The Globe and Mail.