Hydro-Québec’s Next Chapter Should Help Build Quebec’s Next Global Companies

By Jean-François Harvey
Director of Quebec Affairs

As Quebec prepares to invest in the electricity system that will support its economic future, the purchasing decisions behind that investment deserve far more attention.

The scale of the opportunity is considerable. Hydro-Québec has helped shape Quebec’s economy for generations, and these investments should be a central part of our economic development strategy. Hydro-Québec’s Action Plan 2035 now anticipates $200 billion in investment, including $10 billion dedicated to energy efficiency. These investments will influence which technologies reach the market, which companies secure major customers, and where expertise accumulates over the coming decade.

For Quebec’s next government, the objective should be twofold: use this investment to deliver reliable, affordable electricity, while also creating opportunities for homegrown companies to become global suppliers of technologies that will build the province’s energy future.

An energy transition, built on domestic innovation

Hydro-Québec’s research institute, l’Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Québec (IREQ), brings substantial technical expertise to the energy transition. Its research priorities include artificial intelligence, digital models that help predict equipment performance, and technologies that improve how electricity is consumed and managed. These are areas where collaboration with domestic technology companies can turn operational challenges into commercial opportunities. Energy efficiency is a particularly compelling place to start.

Meeting growing electricity demand requires better tools to manage consumption alongside additional generation. Software that helps a factory shift demand away from peak periods, systems that optimize heating in commercial buildings, and sensors that identify equipment problems earlier can all contribute to a more productive electricity system.

For a growing technology company, a purchase order from Hydro-Québec could provide the revenue, operating experience and customer reference needed to go on and compete internationally. A solution proven in Quebec could serve utilities and industrial customers facing similar challenges elsewhere.

Realizing this opportunity requires deliberate procurement choices. A large investment budget alone does not guarantee that smaller domestic firms will have a meaningful opportunity to participate. Contracts must be structured so that companies with strong technologies can compete, demonstrate their value and grow.

Opening procurement to growing companies

CCI’s Buying Ideas report calls for a dedicated procurement target for small and medium-sized enterprises and a stronger focus on commercialization. Hydro-Québec offers a concrete opportunity to put those principles into practice. Quebec should establish a defined allocation for domestic innovation within relevant technology procurement budgets, supported by contracts reserved for eligible smaller firms where procurement rules permit. Breaking suitable projects into manageable contracts would allow specialized companies to bid directly. Clear performance requirements would keep reliability, security and value for ratepayers at the centre of purchasing decisions.

Those opportunities also need a credible route from testing to commercial deployment. Hydro-Québec should identify operational problems, invite companies to propose solutions, and establish in advance how successful demonstrations can lead to larger purchases. Companies need to know that meeting the utility’s requirements can produce a lasting customer relationship. Accountability should follow the same logic.

Alongside spending and energy targets, Hydro-Québec should report on the number of domestic technology suppliers winning contracts, the share of successful trials reaching wider deployment, and the commercial outcomes those relationships support. These measures would help distinguish meaningful company growth from spending that simply passes through a local office.

Keeping the economic value at home

CCI’s Buying What We Build framework emphasizes Canadian research and development, intellectual property ownership, data stewardship, and strategic control. Those principles offer a useful basis for assessing who captures the lasting value of public purchasing. Applied to Hydro-Québec, this would mean examining where suppliers conduct research, where decisions are made, who owns the technology, and whether Canadian companies can commercialize what they develop. Procurement should reward businesses that deepen domestic expertise and supply chains. Contract terms should give Hydro-Québec the rights it needs to operate securely while allowing suppliers to retain and commercialize their intellectual property.

Quebec has an opportunity to connect its energy ambitions with one of its most persistent economic challenges: helping innovative companies reach global scale.

Its next investment cycle should help make Quebec a leader in the technologies shaping the next economy: leveraging Hydro-Québec’s purchasing power to give homegrown companies the reference customers they need to scale and compete globally.
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About the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI)

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) is Canada’s business council for the 21st century economy. We are a collective of over 175 of Canada’s fastest-growing and most ambitious companies, and the founders, CEOs, and executives behind them, working together to improve the business conditions that help more homegrown companies scale, compete globally, and drive long-term prosperity.