Electricity Canada has been a proponent of electric utility standards since the organization’s inception in 1891.


Standards are an approved set of rules intended for repeated use that aim to ensure industry or company operational consistency. Industry standards are approved by recognized standardization bodies to ensure consensus by subject matter experts. They may be referenced in regulations or other documents, such as tenders and purchase contracts, by both utilities and their customers.

Standards benefit the Canadian economy, as well as the design, construction, procurement, maintenance, and operating processes of the electricity industry. Without standardization, our industry would not have been able to develop into the integrated and complex provider of electricity that it is today, by ensuring reliability, compatibility and performance using accepted practices. These practices are essential for the delivery of sustainable electricity by our members to their customers.

  • Electricity Canada and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) signed a partnership agreement in 2020 to enhance the competitiveness of Canada’s electrical sector and create new opportunities to promote efficient and effective strategies in standards development.
  • Electricity Canada supports and facilitates industry participation in several standards development organizations (SDOs), including CSA Group and the CIO Strategy Council
  • Electricity Canada has supported the development of Canadian Electrical Code standards, including C22.3 No.7 Underground Systems, and C22.3 No. 1 Overhead Systems, helping ensure the safety and protection of people, services, and property in relation to power lines.

Why is participation in standards development important?

  • With evolving customer expectations, regulatory changes, aging infrastructure, climate change and rapid advances in technology, there is no better time for Canadian electricity companies to get involved in standards development.
  • Historically, most standards were developed to provide interoperability between two existing technologies, or as a response to a well-established technology becoming the industry norm. Now, standards are increasingly driving the technologies themselves, and, in some cases, defining utility business practices.
  • Participation with standards development bodies ensures that the Canadian electricity industry has a voice in the standards that will impact the reliability, compatibility, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, resilience, and performance of the grid.