Ontario’s Economic Competitiveness Threatened

Historically, Ontario’s low-cost hydroelectric and nuclear generation has helped underpin the province’s economic prosperity.

  • Ontario, like Denmark, Germany and Spain has found that subsidizing wind and solar generation to create jobs is an expensive proposition.
  • Ratepayer–supported subsidies are being provided to Ontario’s industries to keep them competitive. See 2012 Comparison of Electricity Prices In Major North American Cities, Hydro Quebec.
  • According to Statistics Canada, Ontario has lost more than 250,000 manufacturing jobs between 2003 and 2012. Some of the pressure on manufacturing has come from rising electricity prices.
  • Meanwhile billions of dollars in ratepayer-supported subsidies to big multinational wind and solar developers are flowing out of Ontario instead of creating jobs here.
  • A recent analysis by Strategic Policy Economics showed that refurbishing Ontario’s nuclear reactors and building two new nuclear units would deliver $60 billion in net incremental benefits to Ontario’s economy compared to continued investments in wind generation.
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