Natural Resources Committee on April 16th, 2026

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

One issue keeps coming up. In Nova Scotia, plans are under way to build two new natural gas‑fired plants that can shift to light fuel oil, since safety and natural gas supply remain a concern during peak periods.

I ask myself this question all the time. Could Hydro‑Québec provide energy to build greater resilience across Canada?

[Serge Abergel]

I want to thank Mr. Martel for his question.

Just as we're exploring the potential of offshore wind power in Nova Scotia, we're also thinking about optimizing access to the markets around us. Nova Scotia is one of these potential markets. We can access this market through New Brunswick. We're looking at how increased interconnection, with more transmission lines in the longer term, can provide added value for everyone. The goal is for everyone to come out a winner.

Interconnection, or increased access to neighbouring markets, is one avenue that we're working on. At certain times, in the case of Quebec, for example, we can see its flexible energy heading for Nova Scotia. At other times, we can see intermittent renewable energies returning to Quebec given both their renewable properties and their considerable affordability.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Abergel, how does Hydro‑Québec feel about the idea of a pipeline to transport natural gas to the east?

If a project of this nature were to go ahead, could Hydro‑Québec play a role? If so, what would be the conditions?

[Serge Abergel]

Since this falls outside our mandate, we don't really have a position on this. Instead, the government must take a position on this. I'm not the best person to speculate on this issue.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Okay.

Mr. Abergel, there are costs involved in maintaining transmission lines. I would like to talk about the local benefits.

What percentage of transmission line maintenance investments do you think that local purchases account for?

[Serge Abergel]

In terms of local benefits and our local purchases in the Quebec market, Mr. Martel, we have an exact percentage that's extremely high. I have in mind a figure of over 90%. However, we can verify this and give you the exact percentage.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

If you have any documents, can you send them to us?

[Serge Abergel]

Yes. Absolutely. I'm sure that you'll find the response extremely reassuring.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you.

Now let's talk about the workforce. As we heard earlier, Hydro‑Québec is facing major challenges in this area.

Do you have a strategy for attracting, developing and retaining talent?

[Serge Abergel]

We do indeed have a strategy in this area. The workforce constitutes one challenge to overcome when implementing the action plan. We need over 35,000 workers to fulfill these ambitions. The workforce does pose a challenge. We have a whole action plan in place to ensure that we have the workforce needed today, but also to train the next generation of highly qualified workers for the future.

Mr. Laureti, would you like to elaborate on this?

[David Laureti]

Together with the Quebec government, we recently announced an initiative to speed up the training of these workers. We want to attract them and keep them here. They will be extremely useful and necessary for the implementation of the action plan. This is one initiative that we developed with the Quebec department of education. It will help us overcome this workforce challenge.

That said, we'll indeed require 35,000 workers. That's a considerable amount. We're also competing with other major work sites.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Could the Government of Canada play a significant role in supporting your efforts in this area?

[Serge Abergel]

We work in collaborative fashion. We're indeed open to any initiative that seeks to achieve this goal and that benefits society.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you, Mr. Martel.

Mr. Hogan, you're wrapping up this panel with five minutes.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Billedeau, I have a couple of questions, and one is just really rapid fire: For the German system, what per cent is currently being picked up by CFDs, and what is Germany's long-term plan for that program?

[David Billedeau]

That's a great question. Again, it's yet to be implemented. We don't quite know what degree of bridge will need to be gapped through this contracts-for-difference element of the auction process.

In terms of the long-term outlook for the H2Global program, again, Germany has put over 200 million euros of state aid into the project so far, to be set aside to help with the contract-for-difference element. That will have to be replenished as it gets wound down. It will really depend on continued support from the governments of both Canada and Germany to continuously top up that program.

The expectation is that as production scales, cost will come down on the Canadian side, so over a period of probably between five to 10 years the need for the contract-for-difference element in the auction will gradually fizzle out.

One thing I want to note in terms of long-term outlook, as well, is from discussions with the organizers of the H2Global program on the German side. They very much see this as a potential template for other auctions. If the H2Global auction process is successful in supporting the export of Canadian hydrogen and green ammonia to Germany, they see no reason it couldn't be replicated in other sectors, like critical minerals. I view this as a broader opportunity for Canada not just in hydrogen exports but also, potentially, in using the H2Global template for other areas.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

That's fantastic, and it leads into my next question pretty naturally, which is about the connection and interplay between domestic and export markets.

You talked about scale being one of the things the H2Global program will potentially unlock and about how scale can also be developed domestically. I want to throw out that question specifically, but I am also mindful that this is the last moment of the committee. Hydro-Québec has been here. They are a crown jewel. They are established. They're in the tens of billions. We are so grateful for their time, but the downside is, perhaps, that we haven't had the opportunity to discuss hydrogen as much as we and you would like.

I can offer you the last word. Is there anything else you want to say about this topic? I'd also encourage you to provide anything else for the report in writing.

[David Billedeau]

I'm happy to provide a number of briefs the Canadian Hydrogen Association has or is continuing to develop on market and climate opportunities associated with hydrogen deployment.

I will note that a number of projects, particularly on the east coast, are export-oriented, but they're also supporting the regional deployment of hydrogen in local economies. Atlantic Canada has no shortage of opportunities for hydrogen application, whether it's direct integration into energy systems, supporting decarbonization, energy transition, marine transport or industrial heating. The list goes on.

I'll also note that, across Canada, different regions of the country have different strengths, of course, when it comes to production and potential application. One of the larger opportunities for domestic applications of hydrogen is industrial. That resides in jurisdictions like Ontario. There are a number of potential major end-users in that province and across Canada we could discuss at length, but perhaps we'll have to save that for another discussion.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

It looks like we have a couple of seconds left.

In terms of other blue hydrogen opportunities that might exist out west, is there anything you want to make the committee aware of?

[David Billedeau]

I have two points. They're on both blue hydrogen and the emerging technologies associated with natural hydrogen development, which is basically extracting hydrogen stored underground.

Alberta has a similar expertise in oil and gas extraction that could be rapidly applied to natural hydrogen. Blue hydrogen and natural hydrogen on the west coast of Canada can be rapidly developed and scaled to support not only domestic applications associated with hydrogen but also rapidly emerging export opportunities. Again, Japan is moving forward with a four-year time horizon to fill that liquid hydrogen tanker up, ideally with Canadian liquid hydrogen, but there are a lot of requirements that have to be addressed for that to happen. These are not only on the production side for blue and natural hydrogen but also on the transmission and export infrastructure side.

There are a number of challenges associated with really scaling hydrogen for domestic and export applications that have to be addressed, but my main take-away is that this is real, and the timelines are quite short.

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Thank you, both.

Colleagues, on your behalf, let me thank our witnesses for coming to see us today. It's good to hear from the hydrogen sector and the hydro sector. We hadn't heard enough from those sectors, and this is going to help us round out our study. Thank you for good, respectful questions today. We will be back.

Why don't we let our witnesses go? We're going to use a few moments at the end to talk about next week.

We're reconvening on the 21st to resume our study.

Shannon, go ahead.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

I think all of us will be open to this. Would you be willing to set aside, let's say, a 30-minute allotment or some time during our next meeting to discuss some motions and our business going forward?

[The Chair, Liberal, Terry Duguid]

Let me take that under advisement.

Why don't you and I have a conversation and we can bring Mario. I'm sure we'll come to an agreement.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Okay.