Hydropower in Canada: 15 Facts & Statistics

Canadian Hydropower: 15 Facts & Statistics

#1 - Moving water is Canada’s most important renewable energy source, providing 57% of the country’s electricity generation (2023) ^[1]

#2 – Nearly six out of ten Canadian homes and businesses are powered by hydroelectricity ^[2]

#3 - Canada was the world’s third-largest producer of hydroelectricity in 2023, with 4,252 Terawatt-hours (TWh) of generation ^[1]

#4 – With about half a per cent of the world’s population, Canada accounts for 8% of global hydroelectricity generation (2023), behind only China (29%) and Brazil (10%) ^[1]

#5 – 16 million Canadians live in provinces that get more than 90% of their electricity supply from hydropower

#6 – Canadians living in provinces with significant hydropower generation capabilities tend to pay the lowest electricity rates in Canada

#7 - Hydropower contributes more than $35 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually and supports upwards of 130,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country ^[3]

#8 - Hydropower is a major generator of electricity supply for many provinces and territories across the country, accounting for (2023) ^[1]:

• 97% of Newfoundland and Labrador's electricity supply

• 96.8% of Manitoba's electricity supply

• 93.9% of Quebec's electricity supply

• 86.9% of British Columbia's electricity supply

• 85.8% of the Yukon's electricity supply

• 25.1% of Ontario's electricity supply

• 19.2% of the Northwest Territories' electricity supply

• 11.1% of Saskatchewan’s electricity supply

• 10.7% of Nova Scotia's electricity supply

• 2.1% of Alberta’s electricity supply

#9 - Canada’s top ten largest hydropower dams by capacity (2023) are found mostly in British Columbia and Quebec, and include ^[1]:

• Robert-Bourassa – 5,616 MW - Quebec

• Churchill Falls – 5,428 MW – Newfoundland & Labrador

• La Grande 4 – 2,779 MW - Quebec

• Mica – 2,746 MW – British Columbia

• Gordon M. Shrum – 2,730 MW – British Columbia

• Revelstoke – 2,480 MW – British Columbia

• La Grande 3 – 2,417 - Quebec

• La Grande 2A – 2,160 MW - Quebec

• Beauharnois – 1,877 MW – Quebec

• Manic 5 – 1,596 MW - Quebec

#10 – Between 2010 and 2023, Canada’s hydroelectricity generation rose modestly by 3%, from 348 TWh to 357 TWh ^[4]

#11 – Hydroelectricity output in Canada – and elsewhere across the world – remains highly sensitive to weather and the availability of water; in 2023, hydropower generation fell by 37 TWh, or 9% year-over-year, due to drought conditions ^[4]

#12 – Between 2024 and 2030, Canada is expected to add 1,227 MW of hydroelectricity generating capacity, about enough to power roughly 500,000 homes ^[4][5]

#13 – Canada is home to more than 15,000 dams, of which 1,157 are categorized as “large” dams which are owned by governments, utilities, industry, municipalities, and private individuals ^[6]

#14 – Site C in British Columbia is one of the largest hydro dams to come online in Canada for many years, with 1,100 megawatts (MW) and 1,230 MW of installed capacity that produces roughly 5,100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity every year – enough to reliably power the equivalent of 500,000 homes ^[5]

#15 – Canada is pursuing the $3 billion Taltson Hydro Expansion Project, adding 60 MW of generating capacity and a 320-kilometre transmission line which will link 11 communities while serving over 70% of the Northwest Territories’ population ^[7]

Canada’s Hydropower Future

With Canada’s electricity demand expected to double or triple by 2050, hydropower will continue to play a key role in meeting that demand.

In British Columbia, there has been a renewed discussion about another major build after Site C, with the province reportedly exploring a possible fourth Peace River dam, Site E, with a potential capacity of up to 750 MW. B.C. has also been looking at another possible hydro development near Bute Inlet / Homathko, a sign that large-scale hydro is still very much part of the province’s long-range planning.

Farther north, the Taltson Hydro Expansion is one of the clearest examples of where Canadian hydropower plays a key role in providing remote communities with the on-demand electricity they need. The expansion would add about 60 MW of capacity, doubling the Northwest Territories’ hydro capacity and helping create a more unified northern electricity grid.

Other projects show that the future of hydropower in Canada will not depend only on mega-dams. In Quebec, the Innavik Remote Hydro Project is a 7.5 MW run-of-river development designed to replace almost all of Inukjuak’s diesel-based energy use, while in Ontario, OPG is modernizing existing hydro assets and pursuing projects such as the Coniston Generating Station redevelopment, which would increase capacity from 5 MW to 6 MW.

Taken together, these projects suggest Canada’s hydropower future will come from a mix of new western dams, northern expansion projects, Indigenous and remote-community developments, and upgrades to aging stations that can keep delivering clean electricity for decades to come.

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Let’s go Canada! pic.twitter.com/SWmK7E6Hof

— Canada Action (@CanadaAction) July 3, 2026

SOURCES:

_{1 - https://energy-information.canada.ca/sites/default/files/2025-11/energy-fact-book-2025-2026.pdf}

_{2 - https://waterpowercanada.ca/learn/blog/all/hydropower-in-canada-our-coast-to-coast-to-coast-clean-energy-advantage/}

_{3 - https://waterpowercanada.ca/canada-runs-on-water/}

_{4 - https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/renewable-energy-canada/provinces/renewable-power-canada-canada.html}

_{5 - https://www.sitecproject.com/overview}

_{6 - https://cda.ca/dams-in-canada/dams-in-canada}

_{7 - https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/major-projects-office/projects/national/taltson.html}