Canada · Regulation
Section 92A of the Constitution Act puts generation and intra-provincial wires in provincial hands. The federal government keeps international and designated interprovincial lines, nuclear, impact assessment, and a spending-power climate stack. Indigenous law is a project gate, not a consultation courtesy.
| Layer | What it actually decides |
|---|---|
| Constitution s.92A | Provincial authority over generation, conservation, and intra-provincial works. |
| Canada Energy Regulator | International power lines, energy information, interprovincial pipelines. Not your local tariff. |
| CNSC | Every nuclear MW in Ontario and New Brunswick. |
| Impact Assessment Agency | Designated projects. The thing that can stop a line after the utility has already bought the steel. |
| ECCC / Finance | Clean Electricity Regulations (being amended), carbon pricing, ITCs. Federal climate as a price and a tax credit, not as a dispatch order. |
| Provincial economic regulator | Rates, leave-to-construct, in some cases market rules. |
| System operator | Reliability, interconnection, in Ontario and Alberta the wholesale market. |
| NERC / regional entities | WECC, MRO, NPCC reliability standards. Quebec’s Régie enforces inside Quebec. |
| Indigenous law | Duty to Consult, UNDRIP Act, modern treaties, Impact Benefit Agreements. Gating, not garnish. |
| Agency | Where | Decides |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Energy Regulator | CA | International power lines, energy information, interprovincial pipelines |
| Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission | CA | Nuclear licensing and lifecycle |
| Impact Assessment Agency | CA | Federal impact assessments |
| Régie de l’énergie | QC | Electricity and gas rates; reliability standards in Quebec |
| Ontario Energy Board | ON | Rates, wires, RPP, leave-to-construct |
| Alberta Utilities Commission | AB | Wires tariffs, retail default, market functions |
| Alberta Market Surveillance Administrator | AB | Wholesale market conduct |
| British Columbia Utilities Commission | BC | BC Hydro and FortisBC rates and resource plans |
| Manitoba Public Utilities Board | MB | Manitoba Hydro rates |
| New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board | NB | NB Power rates |
| Nova Scotia Energy and Regulatory Boards Tribunal | NS | NS Power rates |
| Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission | PE | Maritime Electric rates |
| NL Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities | NL | NL Hydro / Newfoundland Power rates |
| Yukon Utilities Board | YT | Yukon Energy / ATCO Electric Yukon rates |
NRCan’s May 2026 strategy paper proposes to amend the Clean Electricity Regulations to allow more offsets and more near-term gas units while keeping a 2050 net-zero goal. That is not a dispatch instruction to Hydro-Québec. It is a fight with Alberta and Saskatchewan about whether new gas plants are stranded assets or the plan. This atlas will track the regulation’s text, not the press release.