Christine Healy, president and CEO of Northland Power Inc., delivered a keynote address at the 2025 CIM CONNECT Convention and Expo on May 6 on the topic “Energy Transition and the Evolving Energy Sector” that explored the future of energy and the drivers behind the energy transition. 

“Today, we are living through one of the most consequential shifts in modern history,” she said. “We are transforming how the world powers itself. It’s complex and it’s urgent, and it’s happening in real time. This is a situation where no decision creates a decision, and it has impacts.” 

Healy pointed out that Canada has the potential to hold a powerful position in the global energy landscape, with the fourth greenest electricity grid in the world. “More than 80 per cent of our electricity comes from non-greenhouse gas sources,” she said. “It’s an incredible achievement, but we are in the top two per cent of the countries of the world.” 

In comparison, fossil fuels account for about 80 per cent of primary global energy consumption, but investment in renewable energy is growing.  

Healy also highlighted Canada’s phenomenal natural resources and other advantages. “We have engineering expertise, operational expertise [and] a strong commitment to the rule of law,” she said. “This makes Canada a reliable and necessary partner for the 98 per cent of the world who are behind Canada on their journey to green their grids.” 

However, Healy acknowledged that there are several things holding Canada back, such as long approval times for large projects. “We need to build out our infrastructure at home. By most estimates, we need to double, or even triple, our electricity output by 2050,” she said. “Despite the opportunities and the resources and the talent and the urgency, progress here in Canada remains slow, and that has a lot to do with how we permit and approve large infrastructure projects. I’ll be direct—if we don’t improve our regulatory processes, we will not meet our goals, full stop.” 

Fundamentally, the long permitting times are not attractive for investors or developers, Healy said. “It’s certainly not a sensible policy for a country that needs to double or triple its electricity output by 2050,” she said. “We need clear, apolitical processes, [and] a wholesale commitment to be efficient and effective in our permitting processes.” 

Without competitive time limits and clear pathways, Healy added, capital will go elsewhere. “Projects stall and communities lose out; we lose out on jobs, on infrastructure, on our future,” she said. “The energy transition is a race against time, and right now, red tape is winning. If Canada wants to be a leader—and we should be a leader—we need fast, efficient, transparent regulatory processes.” 

Healy concluded by saying that the energy transition requires a huge amount of collective effort and action from governments, companies and communities, but that the opportunity is enormous.  

Following the keynote, an expert panel discussed the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition. Moderated by Sherry Iskander, senior director, centre of excellence, processing and technology at Rio Tinto, the panel included Sonia St-Arnaud, president and CEO of EVLO; Scott MacKenzie, director, corporate and external affairs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada; Terry Smith, chief operating officer at Lundin Gold; and Maxime Lanctôt, general manager, energy development, Canada at Rio Tinto. 

MacKenzie highlighted Canada’s clean energy grid as one of the country’s advantages. “Our energy, compared to other countries where Toyota operates, is, honestly, absurdly cheap—whether that’s electricity or natural gas, we’ve got it [in Canada],” he said. “We’ve got a lot of opportunities, we’ve got a lot of technology available to us here, we’ve got a lot of innovation, [and] a highly educated workforce. We’ve got all the recipes here for success.” 

The discussion touched on the role of critical minerals in the energy transition, and how the government can strengthen the domestic supply chain. MacKenzie acknowledged that the current geopolitical situation, particularly between Canada and the United States, has created a lot of unpredictability. “As a company trying to plan investments over the coming years, this is a really, really challenging time to do that,” he said. “I think what governments can do is to provide certainty.” 

For example, MacKenzie suggested that governments could get involved in procuring products for manufacturers, or provide some cost certainty for critical minerals. “If you’re planning a battery plant, the raw materials are making up 45 to 50 per cent of that product, and the prices of those raw materials are, frankly, all over the place right now,” he said. “That creates a lot of uncertainty for the company, and it creates a lot of uncertainty for the consumer.” 

Lanctôt agreed with Healy’s earlier comments about the long permitting times for large energy projects, noting that improving this process would attract more investment capital. “We need a long-term view to make those very large investments,” he said. “For me, it’s simple and actionable regulation that provides long term visibility on the investment situation.”