Wind power

The opportunity

Canada is a robust and mature market for wind power and continues to be one of the most attractive global jurisdictions for foreign wind developers. Backed by federal and provincial investment programs, dedicated infrastructure funding, and ambitious procurement initiatives, the country offers a policy environment that is swiftly mobilizing private capital into wind energy.

The onshore sector is already one of Canada’s most mature and scalable renewable energy sources, with over 18 gigawatts of installed wind capacity developed over the last 15 years. Ontario, Alberta, and Québec together account for more than 80% of Canada’s total capacity.

Offshore wind is poised to become the sector’s next growth frontier. New regulatory frameworks and dedicated financial programs are clearing a path for the country’s first offshore projects to be installed within the coming decade. For developers and investors seeking long-duration, policy-supported clean energy assets in a stable jurisdiction, Canadian wind power presents a compelling and rapidly evolving opportunity.

Market entry and investment strategies

Multi-partner provincial incentives. Canada’s wind sector has seen shifts in who owns, finances, and controls projects. Increasingly, provinces are developing procurement rules that incentivize multi-partner structures, often including developers, provincial utilities, municipalities or local cooperatives, and Indigenous groups.

The clearest impact of these multi-partner structures has been the potential for wind projects to benefit local and Indigenous communities, whether through ownership or financial arrangements with ongoing benefits. This can also contribute to regulatory certainty and enhance public confidence.

Indigenous ownership incentives. Almost a third of installed wind power projects in Canada now have some Indigenous ownership, and with procurements incentivizing or requiring Indigenous ownership, that number is expected to keep rising. Below, we look at Indigenous partnerships in detail.

Financing and investor support

• The federal government offers two Investment Tax Credits (ITCs) that can directly reduce the cost of building wind projects in Canada. Both are refundable, and each can offset a significant share of upfront capital costs. Only one ITC may be claimed for the same amount for an eligible property.
  The Clean Technology ITC covers 30% of capital invested in new clean technology property, while the Clean Electricity ITC provides a 15% credit for investment in clean electricity infrastructure. While eligibility criteria differ between the two, both are designed to draw private capital into Canada’s clean energy buildout.
• Wind projects can also benefit from federal government financing and funding. Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) works alongside businesses, institutional investors, and Indigenous communities to crowd in private capital. CIB has so far committed $1.26 billion to 10 wind projects across Canada. At Natural Resources Canada, the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program has committed $500 million to 20 wind projects, including to develop offshore projects in Atlantic Canada.

Key risks and how to manage them

Onshore wind

The main barriers to new onshore wind projects are often not the projects themselves, but rather, delays in building the transmission, distribution, and battery storage infrastructure needed to support them. Canada’s federal and provincial governments are making efforts in this regard, but it remains to be seen if new grid infrastructure proposals can support future large-scale wind procurement initiatives across the country. Recently, the federal government launched a new National Electricity Strategy for consultation, and proposed major reforms to the project approval regime—both aimed at addressing these grid infrastructure challenges.

Offshore wind

Canada Energy Regulator is the primary lifecycle regulator for offshore wind projects, except for matters and areas that are regulated jointly with provincial governments, and projects that are entirely within provincial jurisdictions.

In 2024, the Government of Canada passed a new law to modernize and expand the mandates of the two Atlantic offshore energy regulators beyond petroleum to include renewable energy. Nova Scotia has been leading the charge in the development of offshore capacity, and is administering the country’s first competitive licensing process for offshore wind. Several challenges remain, including uncertainty in finding appropriate off-takers at the scale necessary to justify the significant capital investment needed for offshore development.

While a late entrant to the global offshore wind market, Canada has in the past two years gained new regulatory frameworks, financial schemes, and industry enthusiasm that could set its first projects in motion in the relatively near term.

Indigenous partnerships

Canada’s federal government and its leading wind power–producing provinces offer dedicated financing or electricity procurement programs that are designed to support Indigenous equity ownership eligibility for wind projects. The following are some examples:

• The $10-billion federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program supports Indigenous groups’ equity ownership in major projects, including energy sector projects.
• Ontario’s Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program had its mandate tripled in October 2025 from $1 billion to $3 billion.
• The Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation provided $100 million to support the investment of six Indigenous partners in a 200-MW wind energy project to be built by 2027.
• The Manitoba Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program specifically supports First Nations and Métis participation in wind projects.
• In May 2026, Hydro-Québec, in collaboration with CIB and National Bank of Canada, announced a financing program worth over $5 billion, intended for major wind energy projects carried out in partnership with Indigenous communities.
• Also in May 2026, BC Hydro announced it is advancing four new wind power projects in the province, all of which include 51% Indigenous equity ownership.

When structuring Indigenous equity partnerships, proponents should carefully consider (a) Indigenous protocols and culturally respectful ways to engage communities; (b) financing, including how to creatively address capital funding over the life of the project; and (c) governance, including how a balance may need to be struck between proponents wanting to retain operational control of the project and the Indigenous groups involved.

All dollar amounts in this primer are C$ unless indicated otherwise.