CANADA'S HYDROGEN STRATEGY

HYDROGEN STRATEGY FOR CANADA

Seizing the Opportunities for Hydrogen

A Call to Action

December, 2020

Executive Summary

TIME TO ACT

The world’s energy systems are undergoing radical transformation driven by the need to mitigate climate change. Development of an at-scale, clean hydrogen economy is a strategic priority for Canada, needed to diversify our future energy mix, generate economic benefits and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The time to act is now. Governments around the world are releasing and executing hydrogen strategies that are building global momentum. In 2019, Canada seized this momentum by developing and launching a new Hydrogen Initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial, designed to be the cornerstone for global hydrogen deployment.

Now, one year later, Canada is poised to leverage this momentum, to grow the domestic opportunity for hydrogen, while also benefiting from growth in global demand through export opportunities, guided by this Strategy.

This Strategy seeks to modernize Canada’s energy systems by leveraging Canadian expertise – including increased participation from marginalized and underrepresented groups – through building new hydrogen supply and distribution infrastructure and fostering uptake in various end-uses, that will underpin a low-carbon energy ecosystem in the near- and long-term. It will set the foundation to do this over the next five years by:

• Encouraging early deployment HUBs in mature applications, and Canadian demonstrations in emerging applications;
• employing regulations, including the forth-coming Clean Fuel Standard to drive near-term investments; and
• framing new policy and regulatory measures needed to reach net-zero by 2050.

These activities in the short-term will be followed by the growth and diversification of the sector from 2025 to 2030. Thereafter, through rapid expansion until 2050, Canada will start to realize the full benefits of the hydrogen strategy.

Those benefits include:

• positioning Canada to become a world-leading supplier of hydrogen technologies;
• sparking economic recovery while growing domestic low-carbon fuel production to reduce emissions for the longer term, including unique opportunities for Indigenous communities and businesses;
• generating more than 350,000 high-paying jobs nationally; and
• employing hydrogen as a key enabler to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recommended that governments put clean energy solutions such as hydrogen at the heart of stimulus plans. Green infrastructure investments are key to achieving Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery, clean growth and climate change objectives.

By applying its world-class expertise at home, Canada can showcase hydrogen’s real-world applications and benefits and the role hydrogen can play in transforming energy systems. Early deployment HUBs will set Canada on a path for widespread deployment in the mid- and long- term where hydrogen’s decarbonization potential can be fully realized.

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