2026年加拿大电力行业技术趋势报告

Contents About Electricity Canada....................................................................................................3Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................3Preface: Letter from the Chair............................................................................................4Introduction.........................................................................................................................5Citizen development: Empowering business innovation...................................................7AI, robotics, and drones for Canadian electric utilities.....................................................11Major systems migrations.................................................................................................15Trends in cybersecurity....................................................................................................19Summary...........................................................................................................................23Bibliography......................................................................................................................24 About Electricity Canada Founded in 1891, Electricity Canada is the national forum and voice of Canada’s evolvingandinnovative electricity business.Through its advocacy efforts, the association supportstheregional, national, and international success of its members. Electricity Canada members generate, transmit, and distribute electrical energy toindustrial,commercial, residential, and institutional customers across Canada. Membersinclude integratedelectric utilities, independent power producers, transmission anddistribution companies, powermarketers, manufacturers,and suppliers of materials,technology, and services. Acknowledgments Electricity Canada recognizes the significant contributions of others in the preparation of thesecond annual Technology Trends report. A special thanks to all contributing authors and committee leaders: Ian Fish, Vice PresidentofDigitalTechnologyof Manitoba Hydro;Humie Woo, Vice President of Information Technology ofToronto Hydro; Jennifer Pederson, Director of Business Solutions of SaskPower,and theElectricity Canada Technology Committee members, for theirefforts in developing this report. Preface: Letter from the Chair The Canadian electricity sector stands at a pivotal moment. The technologies reshaping ourindustry are evolving faster than ever,driven by the convergence of artificial intelligence, dataanalytics, automation, and digital collaboration. These innovations are redefining how weoperate, how we serve our customers, and how we safeguard the reliability and security of thegrid that underpins Canada’s economy and quality of life. Senior technology staff in the industrysee firsthand how technology has become central toachieving organizational excellence and resilience. The themes explored in this year’sTechnology Trends 2026reportlook forward to growing opportunities, but also those risksclosely associated with them. They arecitizendevelopment,artificialintelligence(AI),roboticsanddrones,majorsystemsmigrations, andcybersecurity. These focal areasreflect the realitythat transformation is no longer optional; it is strategic. Each of these trends represents acornerstone of the digital utility future. Together, they illustrate how our sector is responding withagility, foresight, and collaboration. Across Canada, utilities are empowering employees to innovate throughcitizendevelopment,adopting low-code and no-code tools that accelerate problem-solving and strengthenpartnerships between IT and business. Artificialintelligence, robotics, and drone technologiesare improving grid reliability, supporting workforce safety, and enabling real-time insight andautomation. At the same time, utilities are undertaking major systems migrations(modernizingfoundational platforms and embracing cloud technologies)to position their organizations for amore connected and data-driven future. Cybersecurity remains a constant and critical priority, asutilities work collectively to protect the integrity of Canada’s energy systems against increasinglysophisticated threats. While the pace of change can be daunting, it also brings opportunity. The collaborative work ofElectricity Canada’sTechnologyCommittee demonstrates that our sector’s strength lies inshared learning and a unified commitment to innovation. Through open dialogue, collectiveproblem-solving, and industry alignment, we are ensuring that utilities across the country havethe tools,governance, and digital strategies to lead confidently into the next decade. On behalf of theTechnologyCommittee, I would like to thank all contributing authors, committeemembers, and Electricity Canada for their leadership in producing this report. Your efforts notonly showcase the breadth of innovation across our industry but al