Claudio Adrián Cañizares is a University Professor and Hydro One Endowed Chair in the electrical and computer engineering (ECE) department at the University of Waterloo. In 2021, he was appointed the Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE). Prof. Claudio has held various academic and administrative positions since 1993, he is a Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and Fellow of IEEE. He is also the Editor in Chief of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid and the recipient of the 2017 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award, the 2016 IEEE Canada Electric Power Medal, and multiple IEEE PES Technical Council and Committee awards and recognitions.

This talk will provide an overview of Canadian provincial and remote community power grids, and a more detailed discussion of Ontario’s grid, market, and future expansion plans, in the context of zero-emission power systems as the backbone of the energy transition. A critical overview of the decarbonization status and policies for energy systems in Canada will be also presented, focusing on zero-emission power grid, EV, and Hydrogen plans and strategies to enable a Net-Zero 2050.