The Canadian Renewable Energy Association predicts that Canada’s cumulative solar capacity, now at 5.4 GW, could rise to about 21 GW by 2035, thanks to a healthy procurement pipeline in most provinces. Official figures for last year’s deployment of behind-the-meter solar installations, which today drive Canada’s solar market, have yet to be determined.
Canada According to data from the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), 57 MW of utility-scale solar was deployed in 2025. The association’s annual data release last year identified new utility-scale projects in Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon.
Official data for behind-the-meter solar installations, which were expected to be from Canada leading market segment from last year have yet to be released as utilities are still collecting data on new connections in 2025.
Phil McKay, CanREA Senior Director of Member Programs, explains pv magazine that based on conversations with members, especially in the commercial and industrial space, it has been “a great year” for behind-the-meter installations.
“The Alberta system operator was the first to publish some numbers and they claim about 100 MW of behind-the-meter installations. We expect to see something similar in Ontario,” said McKay. “We don’t know yet what the total figure will be, but we know there has been interest throughout the year in most provinces in the country.”
While interest in behind-the-meter is healthy, McKay says Canada’s interconnection processes need to keep pace with those in other countries. “Things are still quite slow here and it can be expensive,” he explained. “Given that Canada doesn’t produce much of the equipment itself, reducing soft costs, including those connection processes, and shortening timelines is our best opportunity to get more behind-the-meter installations built.”
McKay added that there are approximately 750 MW of utility-scale solar projects in Canada that are already breaking ground and scheduled to be operational before the end of the decade. These projects would take Canada’s cumulative capacity, which is currently approximately 5.4 GW, past the 6 GW threshold before the addition of future behind the meter projects.
CanREA’s latest data release predicts that cumulative solar capacity will rise to 21 GW by 2035, largely driven by upcoming utility-scale tenders. McKay said purchasing plans have accelerated over the past year, thanks to CanREA’s purchasing calendar with an overview of open and upcoming calls in nine of Canada’s provinces, led by Ontario.
In Quebec, the provincial utility Hydro-Quebec launched a 300 MW solar tender last May, open through the end of March as the utility works to add 3 GW solar energy in 2035. Hydro-Quebec is also planning 300 MW of distributed solar over the next decade, including 125,000 new on-site installations by electricity customers.
CanREA’s latest analysis also found that almost every major procurement process for solar, wind or energy storage in 2025 had specific criteria or incentives related to indigenous participation or ownership. Examples from last year include Canada largest off-grid solar project to date and a 32 MW indigenously owned solar site in Saskatchewan.
McKay also noted that the coupling of solar energy with batteries is starting to accelerate in Canada. “They go hand in hand more than we thought. As I talk to some of the major distributors in the country, they say they’ve sold a lot more batteries than they thought,” McKay said. “We see in many markets that the speed is even higher than people expected.”
As Canada’s utility storage market approaches 1 GW by the end of 2025, the country has approximately 25 GW of operational solar, wind and storage capacity, with renewables supplying 9.7% of total Canadian electricity demand last year. CanREA predicts that 59 GW of solar, wind and storage combined will be added by 2035, which would bring the contribution of renewables to Canada’s electricity supply to as much as 29%.
“The strong slate of projects now under construction, combined with advancing procurement, made 2025 the year that a regional energy story became a national, Canadian story,” the association’s latest report said.
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