Wind Energy
Welcome to the Wind Energy Industry page. This is where you will find information on the industry, on the role of Industry Canada and on various government initiatives, as well as a directory of companies operating in this industry, business resources, studies and reports, and other relevant resources and tools.
Industry Profile
Wind energy is the fastest growing renewable energy source in Canada with an average annual growth rate of 60 percent since 1998 with installed capacity increasing from 26 megawatts (MW) in 1998 to 3,432 MW by summer of 2010: 950 MW of that was installed in 2009. Canada is expected to experience significant growth in the upcoming years.
Canadian Wind Energy Sector Profile 2010 (PDF, 588 KB, 22 pages)
The Canadian Wind Energy Sector Profile 2010 is the second annual report completed in partnership by Industry Canada, CanWEA, and KPMG on the Canadian wind energy sector. The 2010 Sector Profile follows the previous edition and provides an overview of the sector's activity in 2009. This profile is designed to provide a foundation for gathering and identifying key performance indicators that can ultimately be used to provide an objective assessment of the strength of Canada's current wind sector within the Canadian economy and the increasingly competitive global wind industry.
In 2008, the Canadian wind energy industry was comprised of roughly 210 companies which account for approximately 1 200 full time equivalent jobs nationwide. As of 2010, membership of the Canadian Wind Energy Association was well over 400 companies, and their estimates of employment were greater than 6 000 jobs. The industry is present throughout Canada with centres of concentrated manufacturing and technology generally located in Ontario and Quebec.
In 2009, Industry Canada undertook a report titled Working Report on Industry Metrics for the Canadian Wind Energy Sector 2008. It is the first comprehensive report completed in partnership by Industry Canada, CanWEA, and KPMG on the Canadian wind energy sector. This initiative is in response to the need for current information on the state of the Canadian wind energy sector. The report provides some understanding of the economic impact and characteristics of the Canadian wind energy industry as of the end of 2008.
Canadian wind energy expertise can be found in the manufacturing and construction of towers, rotor blades, base frames, and inverters. However, wind projects currently depend almost exclusively on European and U.S. suppliers for turbines and other key components. The 2008 study entitled Opportunities for Canadian Stakeholders in the North American Large Wind Turbine Supply Chain revealed that there are hundreds of Canadian firms that have or could easily acquire the technical competence to supply components for wind turbines.
The future of wind energy development in Canada is promising and is expected to expand significantly over the coming years. This represents an excellent opportunity for Canadian businesses to develop and commercialize new and competitive technologies, to manufacture products and offer services in support of a growing industry which would ensure Canada's place in the renewable energy supply and value chain.
Information on Downloading a PDF Reader
To access the Portable Document Format (PDF) version you must have a PDF reader installed. If you do not already have such a reader, there are numerous PDF readers available for free download or for purchase on the Internet: