Canada’s electricity grid is among the cleanest in the world, primarily powered by hydro and nuclear energy. For people living in major cities, reliability is high, as power outages are rare and usually restored quickly. But outside those urban centers, the story is different. Rural and remote customers face more frequent outages, longer restoration times, and growing uncertainty as demand continues to climb.
How Canada’s Grid Works
Electricity supply is managed provincially. Ontario relies on the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), whereas Hydro-Québec operates its system, largely independent of the rest of North America. Other provinces are connected to the larger Eastern or Western grids. This structure provides Canada with a reliable backbone, but also makes it vulnerable when major plants or transmission corridors go offline.
Canada’s Power Sources
- Hydro: About 60% of generation, reliable baseload.
- Nuclear: ~16%, steady and dispatchable.
- Gas and thermal: Used for flexibility and peak demand.
- Wind and solar: Growing fast, but intermittent and dependent on storage or backup.
Hydro and nuclear provide Canada with a clean and stable foundation, but weather events and growing demand can test its limits.
Reliability Today
On paper, Canada’s grid is highly reliable, with 99.9% uptime. But averages hide a rural gap. In Ontario, Hydro One data show that rural customers experience twice as many outages and more than double the downtime compared to urban residents.
Why? Long lines serving few customers, vegetation along rights-of-way, and the simple fact that utilities restore city centers before farm country.
Risks of Major Plant Outages
Ontario relies heavily on large nuclear plants, such as Bruce and Pickering, which together provide around 40% of the province’s power. When units go offline for maintenance or unexpectedly, IESO fills the gap with gas plants, hydro, imports, or storage. The system is resilient, but short-term supply crunches can still affect local customers.
The Demand Crunch Ahead
The future is where the real stress begins.
- EV charging: If one million Ontarians plugged in their EVs at once, it could add 7,000 MW of demand—about the size of the entire nuclear fleet.
- Data centres & AI: A single hyperscale data centre can draw 150–300 MW, the same as a mid-size city. AI computing consumes 4–5× the electricity of traditional workloads.
- Other electrification efforts, such as heat pumps, public transit, and industrial electrification, will further increase usage.
Canada’s energy regulators project demand could double by 2050. Meeting it requires doubling or even tripling generation capacity—an ambitious goal with no guarantee it will keep pace.
Rural and Remote Challenges
Rural Ontario, cottage country, and small towns already experience more outages than cities. Farther north, over 280 remote communities aren’t even connected to the primary grid and depend on expensive, trucked-in diesel fuel. Add in extreme weather, wildfires, and ice storms, and the risks only increase.
Why Generators Make Sense
- Independence: You’re not waiting on the utility’s repair schedule.
- Protection: Keep your home, farm, or business powered during storms or power outages due to maintenance.
- Insurance: As EVs and data centres stress the grid further, backup power guarantees peace of mind.
Aurora Generators builds diesel-powered solutions designed for Canadian conditions. With a generator on-site, you’re ready when the grid can’t keep up.