Electricity Prices in Canada 2023

Published by Rylan Urban on Feb 14, 2020. Last updated Sep 3, 2023.

Average Electricity Prices Canada

Average Electricity Prices

The average residential cost of electricity in Canada is $0.192 per kWh. This includes both fixed and variable costs and is based on an average monthly consumption of 1,000 kWh.

The average electricity cost decreases to $0.155 if you exclude the territories. Electricity costs in Canada have increased from $0.174 per kWh in 2020, and $0.135 if you exclude the territories.

Here is the average total cost of electricity by province, based on a monthly consumption of 1,000kWh:

Alberta25.8¢/kWh
British Columbia11.4¢/kWh
Manitoba10.2¢/kWh
New Brunswick13.9¢/kWh
Newfoundland & Labrador14.8¢/kWh
Nova Scotia18.3¢/kWh
Northwest Territories41.0¢/kWh
Nunavut35.4¢/kWh
Ontario14.1¢/kWh
Prince Edward Island18.4¢/kWh
Quebec7.8¢/kWh
Saskatchewan19.9¢/kWh
Yukon Territory18.7¢/kWh
Canada Average19.2¢/kWh

Québec has the cheapest electricity prices in all of Canada ($0.078/kWh), while the Northwest Territories has the most expensive electricity prices ($0.41/kWh).

The tables below show how average electricity prices change based on the amount of electricity that is consumed each month.

Average Electricity Price Canada
Average Electricity Prices in Canada

Note in the charts above that the average price per kWh goes both up and down (and at different rates), depending on the province you live in. This is because of differences in how electricity rates are designed.

Read the next section (Electricity Bill Rate Design) for more on this topic! See the Methodology and Data Sources sections for details on data collection and calculations.


Electricity Bill Rate Design

Electricity Bill Rate Design

energyhub.org evaluates several elements of electricity bill rate design for our Provincial Solar Power Guides & Rankings. Rate design is important for distributed energy generation, efficiency, and conservation programs.

In our opinion, superior rate designs are the ones that allow you to save the most money when you save energy. This might sound intuitive – but not all provinces allow you to save the same amount of money.

For example, reducing your electricity bill from 1,500 to 750 kWh per month will save you 65% on your electricity bill in Nunavut, 46% in Nova Scotia, but only 36% in British Columbia!

Superior designs have low fixed monthly fees and either tiered or time-of-use (TOU) electricity rates. Inferior designs have high fixed monthly fees and flat electricity rates.

Check out the first set of charts below to see how fixed monthly fees vary by province, and the second set to see how rate design (including price) affects the total average monthly electricity bill:

Average Fixed Costs Electricity Canada
Average Fixed Costs of Electricity in Canada
Average Monthly Electricity Bill Canada
Average Monthly Electricity Bills in Canada

Methodology

Intro

Calculating average provincial electricity prices is a challenging task given the wide variation in market and rate structures across the country. For example, 6 provinces use predominantly tiered electricity rates that either increase (BC, NT, NU, QC, YT) or decrease (PE) as a function of electricity usage, 6 use predominantly flat rates (AB, MB, NB, NL, NS, SK), and 1 uses predominantly time-of-use rates (ON).

Additionally, the majority of provinces have a meaningful portion of their population served by at least 2 utility companies (AB, BC, NB, NL, NT, ON, SK) meaning that rates, riders, and tier thresholds often vary by location.

The prices presented on this page reflect our modeled calculations based on publicly available rate data, and are accurate as of September 3, 2023.

Electricity Bill Calculations

Electricity bills were calculated based on the total price charged to consumers, exclusive of sales tax. This includes basic monthly and variable energy charges, as well as appropriate riders, fees, adjustments and provincial rebates (NT, NU, ON). All provincial rates apply to the urban-residential rate class (or equivalent, specifics given in provincial sections below). All territorial rates also include rural and thermal rate classes to reflect the high proportion of communities living under these conditions.

Only utility companies serving a material proportion of the provincial or territorial population were considered. Both simple and weighted averages were used, depending on the relative proportion of people served by each utility. Only base rate structures were used, special and optional pricing programs (clean energy, long-term, etc.) were not considered.

Data Validation

This year, we compared our results to Hydro-Québec’s 2022 electricity price study. Our final calculated prices vary from Hydro-Québec’s results by 0-27%. Of course, variation is expected given differences in study time frame (Sep 2023 vs April 2022) and coverage (provincial average vs single cities) between our studies.

For example, Maritime Electric in Prince Edward Island recently increased their rates (contributing to our higher calculated prices). In most cases, the difference is simply explained by the fact that we used rates from multiple provincial utilities in our calculations.

Comparison of energyhub and quebec hydro electricity prices

N/A = “not applicable”


Data Sources

Alberta

The average residential cost of electricity in Alberta is $0.258 per kWh, or $258 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.167 per kWh, or $167 per month in 2020.

Our model is based on energy rate data published by the Alberta Utilities Advocate. The retail energy rate was calculated using a population weighted average of utility costs in Alberta’s four most populated cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Lethbridge.

In previous years (2020-2022), we performed a simplified calculations based on the “typical electricity bill” that used to be published by the Alberta Utilities Commission. We then made assumptions for the portion of these fees that were fixed and variable before coming up with our final calculated values. Now that our methods have improved for 2023, previous values may not be comparable.

British Columbia

The average residential cost of electricity in British Columbia is $0.114 per kWh, or $114 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.124 per kWh, or $124 per month in 2020.

We used the tiered residential rates from BC Hydro and Fortis BC to calculate prices in BC. Both utilities bill on a 60-day period, so fixed customer charges and tier thresholds were divided by 2 to arrive at monthly numbers. Each utility was weighted equally.

Manitoba

The average residential cost of electricity in Manitoba is $0.102 per kWh, or $102 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.096 per kWh, or $96 per month in 2020.

For our calculations, we used the standard residential rate data published by Manitoba Hydro.

New Brunswick

The average residential cost of electricity in New Brunswick is $0.139 per kWh, or $139 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.127 per kWh, or $127 per month in 2020..

To calculate electricity rates in New Brunswick, we used the average urban residential rates published by NB Power and Saint John Energy. Each utility was weighted equally.

Newfoundland & Labrador

The average residential cost of electricity in Newfoundland and Labrador is $0.148 per kWh, or $148 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.138 per kWh, or $138 per month in 2020.

We used the residential rates published by Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland Labrador Hydro in our calculations. Each utility was weighted equally.

Nova Scotia

The average residential cost of electricity in Nova Scotia is $0.183 per kWh, or $183 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.150 per kWh, or $150 per month in 2020.

All data came from domestic rates published by Nova Scotia Power.

Northwest Territories

The average cost of electricity in Northwest Territories is $0.410 per kWh, or $410 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.387 per kWh, or $387 per month in 2020.

To calculate rates in the Northwest Territories, we used a weighted average of price data published by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and Northland Utilities. To account for the Territorial Power Support Program, our model effectively uses tiered pricing with a threshold of 800kWh per month (the average of the two seasonal allowances). Appropriate adjustment riders were accounted for. Both hydro and thermal rates were used.

Nunavut

The average cost of electricity in Nunavut is $0.354 per kWh, or $354 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is down from $0.375 per kWh, or $375 per month in 2020.

Our calculations used an average of all community prices published by Qulliq Energy Corporation, and take into account the Nunavut Electricity Subsidy. The subsidy threshold was averaged between the two seasons.

Ontario

The average cost of electricity in Ontario is $0.141 per kWh, or $141 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.125 per kWh, or $125 per month in 2020.

Our model uses the time-of-use rates published by the Ontario Energy Board and assumes that 68% of consumption happens off-peak, 18% mid-peak, and 18% on-peak. We also take into account the updated Ontario Electricity Rebate.

Variable delivery and regulatory charges are based on the OEB Bill Calculator and averaged across Alectra Utilities, Atikokan Hydro, Centre Wellington Hydro, Hydro One, London Hydro, Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro, Hydro Ottawa, Toronto Hydro, Veridian Connections, and Wasaga Distribution.

Prince Edward Island

The average cost of electricity in Prince Edward Island is $0.184 per kWh, or $184 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.168 per kWh, or $168 per month in 2020.

For our calculations, we used the tiered residential urban rates published by Maritime Electric.

Québec

The average cost of electricity in Québec is $0.078 per kWh, or $78 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.073 per kWh, or $73 per month in 2020.

The tiered residential rates published by Hydro-Québec were used for our calculations. We assumed uniform daily usage.

Saskatchewan

The average cost of electricity in Saskatchewan is $0.199 per kWh, or $199 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.182 per kWh, or $182 per month in 2020.

There are three major utility companies that serve electricity in Saskatchewan: Saskpower, Saskatoon Light and Power, and Swift Current Light and Power. Rates vary slightly by utility and in our calculations, we took the average of all three. Standard city residential rate classes was used.

Yukon Territory

The average cost of electricity in the Yukon Territory is $0.187 per kWh, or $187 per month, assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. This is up from $0.145 per kWh, or $145 per month in 2020.

For our calculations, we used the rates and riders published by Yukon Energy and Atco Electric Yukon, excluding the rates for Old Crow. All three price tiers were used in our model.

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