What crosses the border: Canada's electricity exports, imports and international power lines, on both issuers' records

Every export of electricity from Canada needs a permit or a licence from the Canada Energy Regulator, and every international power line it travels on is on the same regulator's register. That makes the cross-border side of the electricity system unusually well recorded: a monthly file of volumes and values back to January 1990, and a line-by-line register of the physical connections. Statistics Canada separately asks utilities what they delivered to and received from the United States, so the same flow is measured twice, by two federal issuers, from two different sets of respondents. This entry pins the position both records show -- what leaves, what arrives, what the net has been, and how many connections carry it -- and pins the distance between the two issuers' answers rather than choosing one. It states what the records hold; it does not forecast flows, and it does not merge the two measurements into a single number.

On this page

A Resolution record follows one institution's figures for a defined quantity. It may contain projections, estimates or measured observations. Each version held here keeps its publication date and source, so a newer figure does not erase the earlier one. What is a Resolution record? →

Maintained record. This page preserves successive versions of an official record. It makes no projection and awaits no forecast verdict. Revisions remain visible, and provisional figures retain that status.

The lineage

Vintage	Issuer	Published	Position	Source
Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-07-02	current	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-07-02	current	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
Calendar 2025, complete; captured 2026-07-26	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-07-02	current	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
Calendar 2025, complete; captured 2026-07-26	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-07-02	current	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-07-02	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-07-02	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
The register as it stood at capture on 2026-07-26; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-04-09	Canada Energy Regulator	2026-04-09	current	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26	Statistics Canada	2026-07-24	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26	Statistics Canada	2026-07-24	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26	Statistics Canada	2026-07-24	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-07-26
June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established	Canada Energy Regulator	Not established	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established	Canada Energy Regulator	Not established	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here	Statistics Canada	2026-09-29	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here	Statistics Canada	2026-09-29	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here	Statistics Canada	2026-09-29	superseded	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established	Canada Energy Regulator	Not established	current	Source → · accessed 2026-10-04
July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established	Canada Energy Regulator	Not established	current	Source → · accessed 2026-10-04
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here	Statistics Canada	2026-09-29	current	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here	Statistics Canada	2026-09-29	current	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here	Statistics Canada	2026-09-29	current	Source → · accessed 2026-09-29

Vintage	Period	Value	Role	Assurance	Basis
Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26	Electricity exported from Canada, calendar 2025	32,123,557.1 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26	Electricity imported into Canada, calendar 2025 -- the highest in the thirty-six-year record	25,229,332.9 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26	Electricity exported from Canada, calendar 2016 -- the year of the record's widest net position	73,102,689.3 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26	Electricity imported into Canada, calendar 2016	9,083,219.8 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Calendar 2025, complete; captured 2026-07-26	What Canada's electricity exports were worth, calendar 2025	3,067,209,943.4 CAD	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Calendar 2025, complete; captured 2026-07-26	What Canada's electricity imports cost, calendar 2025	1,667,087,814.3 CAD	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26	Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to April 2026	32,529,079.4 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26	Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to April 2026	26,239,676.0 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26	Deliveries to the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to April 2026	32,490,820.0 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26	Purchased receipts from the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to April 2026	26,263,639.0 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26	Total Canadian electricity generation, twelve months to April 2026	625,010,669.0 MWh	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
The register as it stood at capture on 2026-07-26; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-04-09	International power lines recorded as Operating, at capture on 26 July 2026	86.0 international power lines	institutional estimate	unaudited	as first published
June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established	Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to June 2026	36,602,003.8 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established	Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to June 2026	25,690,620.3 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here	Deliveries to the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to June 2026	36,612,554.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here	Purchased receipts from the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to June 2026	25,694,259.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here	Total Canadian electricity generation, twelve months to June 2026	630,422,324.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established	Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to July 2026	39,286,255.9 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established	Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to July 2026	24,703,411.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here	Deliveries to the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to July 2026	39,296,806.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here	Purchased receipts from the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to July 2026	24,714,426.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—
July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here	Total Canadian electricity generation, twelve months to July 2026	634,612,166.0 MWh	institutional estimate	—	—

Comparisons

This record shows what an institution published and how its figures compare across versions or with later outcomes. It does not rank institutions or grade their forecasting ability.

Comparison	Compared periods and editions	Difference (stated convention)	Basis and convention
The net position over the twelve months to April 2026, on the regulator's record	Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to April 2026 · edition: 436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 26,239,676.0 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to April 2026 · edition: 436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 32,529,079.4 MWh)	+6,289,403.4 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: electricity exported minus electricity imported over the twelve months to April 2026, in megawatt hours, both from the same file, the same compilation and the same window. A positive difference means more left Canada than arrived.
The net position in calendar 2025	Electricity imported into Canada, calendar 2025 -- the highest in the thirty-six-year record · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 25,229,332.9 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, calendar 2025 · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 32,123,557.1 MWh)	+6,894,224.3 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: electricity exported minus electricity imported in calendar 2025, in megawatt hours, from the issuer's own annual Total rows. Canada is a net exporter in every one of the thirty-six complete calendar years this file carries, and 2025's net is the third smallest of the thirty-six, after 1990 and 2003.
The net position in calendar 2016, the widest in the record	Electricity imported into Canada, calendar 2016 · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 9,083,219.8 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, calendar 2016 -- the year of the record's widest net position · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 73,102,689.3 MWh)	+64,019,469.5 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: electricity exported minus electricity imported in calendar 2016, in megawatt hours, on the same basis as every other year in the file. Across the thirty-six complete calendar years, this is the largest net export position the record holds.
Exports: 2016 against 2025	Electricity exported from Canada, calendar 2016 -- the year of the record's widest net position · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 73,102,689.3 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, calendar 2025 · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete twelve-month years; the catalogue record was last modified 2026-07-02 and the file was captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 32,123,557.1 MWh)	-40,979,132.2 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: calendar 2025 exports minus calendar 2016 exports, in megawatt hours, from the issuer's own annual Total rows on one unchanged basis. The percentage is the difference over the 2016 level.
Imports: 2016 against 2025	Electricity imported into Canada, calendar 2016 · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 9,083,219.8 MWh) vs. Electricity imported into Canada, calendar 2025 -- the highest in the thirty-six-year record · edition: Calendar years 1990 through 2026, of which 1990 through 2025 are complete; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 25,229,332.9 MWh)	+16,146,113.0 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: calendar 2025 imports minus calendar 2016 imports, in megawatt hours, on the same construction as the export comparison. The percentage is the difference over the 2016 level.
What the trade was worth in calendar 2025	What Canada's electricity imports cost, calendar 2025 · edition: Calendar 2025, complete; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 1,667,087,814.3 CAD) vs. What Canada's electricity exports were worth, calendar 2025 · edition: Calendar 2025, complete; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 3,067,209,943.4 CAD)	+1,400,122,129.1 CAD	same issuer. Numeric difference: the value of electricity exported minus the value of electricity imported in calendar 2025, in Canadian dollars, from the issuer's own Total Value column at its own Total rows. Canada's electricity trade is in surplus by value in every one of the thirty-six complete calendar years the file carries.
Twelve months ending June 2026: exports measured by two federal issuers	Deliveries to the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to June 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here (institutional estimate 36,612,554.0 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to June 2026 · edition: June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 36,602,003.8 MWh)	-10,550.2 MWh	cross-issuer. Numeric difference: CER exports minus Statistics Canada corresponding US flow, July 2025 through June 2026, in MWh. Percentage uses the Statistics Canada figure as denominator. Both gaps are negative in this window.
Twelve months ending June 2026: imports measured by two federal issuers	Purchased receipts from the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to June 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release/capture; matched June window used here (institutional estimate 25,694,259.0 MWh) vs. Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to June 2026 · edition: June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 25,690,620.3 MWh)	-3,638.7 MWh	cross-issuer. Numeric difference: CER imports minus Statistics Canada corresponding US flow, July 2025 through June 2026, in MWh. Percentage uses the Statistics Canada figure as denominator. Both gaps are negative in this window.
The net position over the twelve months to June 2026, on the regulator's record	Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to June 2026 · edition: June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 25,690,620.3 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to June 2026 · edition: June 2026 reference endpoint; captured September 29, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 36,602,003.8 MWh)	+10,911,383.6 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: electricity exported minus electricity imported over the twelve months to June 2026, in megawatt hours, both from the same file, the same compilation and the same window. A positive difference means more left Canada than arrived.
The same twelve months of exports, measured by two federal issuers	Deliveries to the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to April 2026 · edition: Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 32,490,820.0 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to April 2026 · edition: 436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 32,529,079.4 MWh)	+38,259.4 MWh	cross-issuer. Numeric difference: the Canada Energy Regulator's export total for the twelve months to April 2026 minus Statistics Canada's 'Deliveries to the United States' total over the same twelve months, in megawatt hours. The percentage is the difference over the Statistics Canada figure. Two federal issuers measuring one physical flow across one border over one window, and the difference between them is stated rather than resolved.
The same twelve months of imports, measured by two federal issuers	Purchased receipts from the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to April 2026 · edition: Monthly, reference months 2008-01 through 2026-04, as published at capture on 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 26,263,639.0 MWh) vs. Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to April 2026 · edition: 436 monthly periods, January 1990 through April 2026; captured 2026-07-26 (institutional estimate 26,239,676.0 MWh)	-23,963.0 MWh	cross-issuer. Numeric difference: the Canada Energy Regulator's import total for the twelve months to April 2026 minus Statistics Canada's 'Purchased receipts from the United States' total over the same twelve months, in megawatt hours. The percentage is the difference over the Statistics Canada figure. Constructed exactly as the export comparison, and pinned beside it because the two point opposite ways.
The net position over the twelve months to July 2026, on the regulator's record	Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to July 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 24,703,411.0 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to July 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 39,286,255.9 MWh)	+14,582,844.8 MWh	same issuer. Numeric difference: electricity exported minus electricity imported over the twelve months to July 2026, in megawatt hours, both from the same file, the same compilation and the same window. A positive difference means more left Canada than arrived.
Twelve months ending July 2026: exports measured by two federal issuers	Deliveries to the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to July 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here (institutional estimate 39,296,806.0 MWh) vs. Electricity exported from Canada, twelve months to July 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 39,286,255.9 MWh)	-10,550.1 MWh	cross-issuer. Numeric difference: CER exports minus Statistics Canada corresponding US flow, August 2025 through July 2026, in MWh. Percentage uses the Statistics Canada figure as denominator. Both gaps are negative in this window.
Twelve months ending July 2026: imports measured by two federal issuers	Purchased receipts from the United States as Statistics Canada measures them, twelve months to July 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; September 29, 2026 release and original capture, rechecked unchanged October 4, 2026; matched July window used here (institutional estimate 24,714,426.0 MWh) vs. Electricity imported into Canada, twelve months to July 2026 · edition: July 2026 reference endpoint; captured October 4, 2026; edition publication date not established (institutional estimate 24,703,411.0 MWh)	-11,015.0 MWh	cross-issuer. Numeric difference: CER imports minus Statistics Canada corresponding US flow, August 2025 through July 2026, in MWh. Percentage uses the Statistics Canada figure as denominator. Both gaps are negative in this window.

Evidence qualifications (9)

Historical September 29 reading: The two issuers do not publish the same number. Over the twelve months ending June 2026, CER exports are 10,550.1926 MWh (0.03 percent) below Statistics Canada deliveries; CER imports are 3,638.7445 MWh (0.01 percent) below purchased receipts. The April comparison remains preserved separately and had opposite signs. This is a measurement difference between collections, not a change in physical trade or proof that one corrects the other.
The file's own Price column is not used anywhere in this entry. The data dictionary defines it as the average price in Canadian dollars per megawatt hour, but the published figure cannot be reproduced from the file's own Energy and Total Value columns -- for calendar 2025 exports the file states 90.66 while value divided by volume gives 95.48 -- and the file does not disclose how it is derived. Rather than publish a price we cannot re-derive, or silently substitute our own, this entry pins volumes and values only and records the discrepancy.
This is the international border, not the provincial ones. The Canada Energy Regulator's mandate covers international power lines and export permits, so its file records nothing about electricity moving between provinces. Statistics Canada's cube has components for interprovincial receipts and deliveries but publishes no observation for either at the Canada aggregate, which is where this entry reads. The domestic intertie is therefore not measured anywhere in this entry, and no figure here should be read as covering it.
Two components of the Statistics Canada cube have been discontinued and are not used. The firm and non-firm split of deliveries to the United States ends at December 2015, and 'Other receipts from the United States' ends at December 2011. Nothing here extends, imputes, or fills those series, and the import comparison uses the purchased-receipts component alone, which is the whole of what the cube now records as arriving.
The register counts lines, not capacity. The International Power Lines register carries a capacity column, but it is populated with zero on many rows, so no total transfer capability is computed from it here and none should be inferred from the count of 86 operating lines. The register is also attribute-grain, not geometry: no current national transmission geometry layer is available under an open instrument, and the regulator's interactive map sits under different and narrower terms that this entry does not rely on.
Every figure here is as published at capture and subject to the issuers' ordinary revision. Neither the Canada Energy Regulator file nor the Statistics Canada cube publishes a vintage archive of itself, so a figure pinned here cannot later be compared against what the same source said today unless these bytes are kept -- which is why they are archived with their hashes.
Nothing in this entry explains the position it records. Cross-border electricity flows respond to hydrology, demand, relative prices, plant availability, transmission outages and policy on both sides of the border, and this record separates none of them. The narrowing of the net position since 2016 is stated as what the record shows, and attributed to nothing.
Historical September 29 reading: The captured CER monthly file ends June 2026, while Statistics Canada reaches July 2026. Paired comparisons use the common June endpoint. CER edition publication date is not established; the separately observed September 1 server/dataset modification timestamp and September 29 capture are not substituted for it. Annual CER bytes and their prior pins were checked unchanged.
October 4, 2026 reading: the CER file now reaches July, aligning with Statistics Canada's held endpoint. Paired twelve-month comparisons now use August 2025 through July 2026. CER exports are 10,550.1025 MWh (0.03%) below Statistics Canada deliveries; CER imports are 11,014.9512 MWh (0.04%) below purchased receipts. These are differences between collections and do not correct either source. Earlier caveats and comparisons retain their dated June and April scope. The CER edition issue date remains unestablished.

Latest source: What crosses the border: Canada's electricity exports, imports and international power lines, on both issuers' records · accessed 2026-10-04

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This record shows what an institution published and how its figures compare across versions or with later outcomes. It does not rank institutions or grade their forecasting ability.

This is the current public record for this lineage. See Work with Countability for a commissioned projection-resolution question.

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