Issue link: http://georgiancollege.uberflip.com/i/1547013
Electricity demand is forecasted to increase by approximately 65% by 2050, driven by population and economic growth, electrification across transportation, buildings and industry, and emerging large-scale electricity users such as AI data centres. 29 As part of the push to meet needs, the Ontario government committed to several initiatives 30 : • Invest $900 million in new energy efficiency framework to improve efficiency by allowing a wider range of upgrades and technologies. • Continue nuclear refurbishments (Darlington, Bruce, and Pickering B), build the G7's first small modular reactors in Darlington, expand Bruce C Project (pre-construction underway) and Port Hope (planning stages). • Refurbish existing hydro and develop 4,000MW of new potential hydro sites in northern Ontario. • Increase storage capacity to more efficiently capture energy from intermittent sources using pumped storage, such as a proposed 1,000MW storage facility in Meaford. 31 • Expand bulk transmission infrastructure to efficiently transmit power from nuclear and northern hydro sites to industrial, commercial, and urban areas. • Support increased grid interconnections with neighbouring grids to increase system reliability and facilitate clean energy trading. • Establish a registry of pre-qualified transmitters to speed up the competitive bidding process for major new line builds. • Put grid modernization standards in place to reduce local outages, build resilience against severe weather and cybersecurity threats. On top of these ambitious provincial policies, the federal government recently announced Powering Canada Strong, 32 a policy to double the electricity capacity of Canada's grid and increase grid resilience and connectivity between provinces, which will require an estimated $1 trillion investment by 2050. Given these ambitious, wide-ranging provincial and national policies, Bruce Power has committed to significant developments of their own in our region: 33 • 13-year multi-billion-dollar Bruce Power Major Component Replacement refurbishment project. • Site C Expansion, once completed, will make Bruce Nuclear Generating Station one of the largest nuclear plants by a considerable margin. Plugged in Georgian has the programs to meet the needs of this future workforce. We also have the partnerships. As a member of the Canadian Nuclear Association and the Canadian Energy Workforce Consortium, we're working closely with industry and postsecondary partners to ensure we meet the labour-market needs of a rapidly growing industry. Our Owen Sound Campus is also uniquely positioned in near proximity to partners like Bruce Power to support mega projects in Ontario, with a shared commitment to developing the talent pipeline needed. DID YOU KNOW? Since 2012, Toronto Hydro and Georgian have collaborated to create and maximize student opportunities in the electrical utilities sector and expand opportunities around corporate training, research and employee engagement. 27 Insights Report | Fall 2026