N.L., Quebec to sign new Churchill Falls agreement worth billions — with help from Ottawa

Ottawa is calling it the largest clean energy investment in North American history.

Prime Minister Mark Carney was in St. John’s on Monday to announce a new agreement on Churchill Falls and other electricity projects in Labrador, alongside N.L. Premier Tony Wakeham and Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette.

“We are finally turning the page on one of the darkest chapters in our past, and replacing both the notorious both the 1969 Churchill Falls agreement and the 2024 MOU with a better deal for all of us,” said Wakeham.

The trio of leaders gathered on Pier 17, amid a picturesque ocean background, as details of the new deal were touted.

The deal will provide $10 billion in federal financing to upgrade and expand the Churchill Falls generating station, develop the Gull Island hydroelectric project, build transmission lines and implement a 2,000 MW onshore wind energy project in Labrador — with the exact location and other details for that wind project under consideration by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

According to the federal government, altogether these projects represent the largest clean energy investment in North American history, valued at nearly $70 billion — and will nearly triple the current generating capacity of Churchill Falls, with enough power to light, heat and cool all the homes in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver combined.

“Just put this in context. Tripling the current generation capacity of Churchill Falls to that 14,000 megawatts of renewable power — that’s more than the entire generating capacity of B.C. Hydro, it’s more than double the output of Bruce Power, the largest nuclear plant on this continent,” said Carney.

The projects will create 23,000 jobs, according to both levels of government.

The new agreement between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Hydro-Quebec has some updated figures.

N.L. Hydro says the deal will increase the value for N.L. from the $36 billion estimated in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2024 — to $49 billion in net present value.  

This new agreement has an end date of March 31, 2027, unless both parties agree to extend or end it, or unless they sign definitive agreements before that date.

The upcoming Quebec election could complicate that if another party takes power, but today, Wakeham is calling it a “win-win-win.”

He said this guarantees N.L. more power, more value and more transmission — a phrase he has said many times before when he was asked what he wanted to get out of N.L.’s negotiations with Quebec on Churchill River hydroelectric projects.

“Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will finally be the primary beneficiary of our own resources, with complete control over whether we use our power to develop our economy or sell to outside markets,” Wakeham is quoted in a media release. 

“Today is not about what we can tear up, it’s about what we can build up,” he said, seeming to allude to the 2024 announcement with Quebec when former N.L. premier Andrew Furey ripped up the 1969 Churchill Falls agreement. 

“And with a new and better deal finally in our hands, it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and build a new and brighter future for all of us.”

Within N.L, the original deal has long been criticized as lopsided in Quebec’s favour.

On the campaign trail last fall, Wakeham vowed to put the new deal to a referendum. He said on Monday that in place of that, he will convene a special meeting of the House of Assembly on September 14.

He admits people will likely be “disappointed” that he is not going to move forward with his promise of a referendum, but said, “the time is now, the urgency is there.”

The new deal includes upgrades to the existing Churchill Falls facility, increasing its capacity by 23.5 per cent, or 1,275 MW. The MOU signed in 2024 pegged those upgrades at 550 MW. 

And while Ottawa says it has funding to expand Churchill Falls, the agreement between N.L. and Quebec says they agree to “study” the “potential” expansion of Churchill Falls with a new powerhouse. This is a change from the original MOU, which said it would expand Churchill Falls.

The agreement also says they will “study” the “potential” development of a new wind project generating facility, but there are few other details.

‘A big change’: New Churchill Falls deal would let N.L. sell power through Quebec’s network to other markets

In total, N.L. Hydro says Newfoundland and Labrador will get about 760 MW more power with this agreement — 2,350 MW versus 1,990 MW agreed in the 2024 MOU. If the wind project is completed, that amount could increase up to 2,750 MW. 

Hydro-Quebec gets access to up to 6,915 MW, or up to 8,515 MW if the wind project is completed. 

N.L. Hydro says Hydro-Quebec will pay 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour next year — up from the current 0.2 cents — and that price will go up 14 per cent per year, reaching 11.5 cents in 2041. 

N.L. Hydro also says N.L. can choose whether or not it wants to use or sell its allotted power from the Churchill Falls base plant. 

Ottawa says this extra power will help to grow Labrador’s mining industry, and it is also providing money to bolster that development. 

Natural Resources Canada says Ottawa will provide more than $2.3 million to complete an engineering and design study for transmission lines that would bring more power to Labrador west. 

There is also $439,844 for preconstruction and feasibility planning for the Kami iron ore project southwest of Wabush. 

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