Electricity supply
The total amount of electricity generated in Canada decreased by 1.3% to 625.9 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2021, a drop of 8.0 million MWh from the previous year.
The main drivers for the decline were attributed to the decrease in nuclear and hydro generation. Nuclear generation was down in 2021 by 5.7% (-5.3 million MWh). Ontario saw a drop of 5.6% (-4.9 million MWh) in nuclear generation and New Brunswick fell by 7.7% (-0.4 million MWh).
Year-over-year hydro generation was down in 2021 by 1.0% (-3.7 million MWh) due to reported decreases in Manitoba (-22.6% or -8.2 million MWh), Ontario (-10.1% or -3.9 million MWh), Saskatchewan (-32.6% or -1.4 million MWh) and New Brunswick (-4.8% or -132,611 MWh).
By generation type, hydro and wind accounted for 66.1% of total electricity production. Hydro remained the single largest contributor to Canada's electricity mix and generated 60.6% of electricity production in 2021. Quebec produced 53.1% of the hydro electricity generated in Canada.
Electricity trade
In 2021, total exports of electricity from Canada to the United States decreased by 10.4% (-7.0 million MWh). Total imports from the United States increased by 32.6% (+3.2 million MWh) compared with the previous year. The largest exporters of electricity to the United States were Quebec (24.3 million MWh), Ontario (15.6 million MWh) and British Columbia (11.4 million MWh). British Columbia remains the largest importer of electricity, importing 7.5 million MWh of electricity from the United States.
Electricity use
Sales volumes of electricity delivered to end-use consumers increased by 0.1% to 491.9 million MWh compared with 2020. Total sales dollar value fell to $47.1 billion in 2021, a decrease of 0.9%. Among the customer segments, the sales volumes for mining and manufacturing (+1.0%) and agriculture (+0.4%) rose year over year. End-user electricity sales volumes in residential (-0.4%) and other sales (-0.4%) declined.
Note to readers
The Annual Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey provides data on the amount of electricity generated, interprovincial movements of electricity, imports, exports, and sales to final consumers.
Data from 2016 to 2020 have been revised.
The Annual Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey is now administered as part of Statistics Canada's Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP). Detailed information about the IBSP is available from the Behind the data module of our website.
Visit the Energy statistics portal to find data, tools and reports to provide you with the latest information on energy in Canada.
Contact information
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