First District International Vice President Russ Shewchuk joined Prime Minister Mark Carney in Ottawa on May 14 to announce a new initiative to double Canada’s electric grid. The plan is expected to create thousands of jobs for IBEW members.
First District International Vice President Russ Shewchuk shared the podium with Prime Minister Mark Carney on May 14. It was much more than a photo-op.
Instead, it was to celebrate the federal government’s plan to double Canada’s electrical grid and create thousands of jobs for IBEW members in Canada during the next two decades.
“I was a little nervous, a little taken aback,” said Shewchuk, who was asked to appear with the prime minister just one day earlier. “I did not want to leave the [First District] progress meeting. But in the bigger picture, this meant so much for our future.”
So, he and his wife made the five-plus-hour drive from Niagara Falls, Ontario, the site of the meeting, to Ottawa to appear with Carney and Julie Dabrusin, minister for environment and climate change.
“This government has ambitious plans for the electrical future of this country,” Shewchuk told the media and others in attendance. “As the number one stakeholder in Canada in electrical work, the IBEW is ready to build, and we can’t wait to get to work.
“This announcement, as far I am concerned, is the greatest announcement since electricity itself,” he added.
Carney thanked Shewchuk for “joining with enthusiasm for today’s announcement, today and tomorrow’s tasks, and for your workers to ensure Canada can deliver on it.”
“The path to affordability is electrification,” the prime minister added. “The path to competitiveness is electrification. The path to net zero is electrification. Electrification underpins everything: our emissions, our environment, our economy.”
Powering Canada Strong, the government’s name for the initiative, will double the grid by 2050 to meet the rapidly increasing demands on it.
That will create about 130,000 jobs for the skilled trades, many of whom will be IBEW members. Carney noted that the government will work closely with trade unions to meet the demand.
Shewchuk said the moment left him with an immense feeling of pride — not for himself, but for the work done by IBEW members across Canada being recognized at the highest levels of government.
“They have asked for our help in this plan for the future,” Shewchuk said. “What an incredible honor. It’s extremely humbling, and I’m proud of our locals across the country in all sectors.”
The IBEW in Canada has built a close relationship with Carney’s Liberal government since it took office in early 2025, similar to what the IBEW had with President Joe Biden, he said.
High-ranking officials, often including Carney himself, reach out for the Brotherhood’s input on important public works projects. Shewchuk has spoken to Carney several times, he said.
From the beginning, there has been a commitment to invest in Canada and to have skilled trade union members perform the needed infrastructure work.
“That, for me, from the very get-go, was the foundation of the relationship,” he said. “There’s been a lot of trust on both sides.
“He [Carney] did not want an aide or a deputy minister to brief him on this,” Shewchuk added. “He wanted to learn for himself what the IBEW and the building trades bring to this country.”
Canada’s relationship with the United States, its largest trading partner and historically its closest ally, is at its lowest point in decades due to the ongoing trade war initiated by the Trump administration.
That’s convinced Carney and others of the importance of making better use of the country’s natural resources and improving its infrastructure. That means opportunities for IBEW members across all sectors, Shewchuk said.
“The future of this country will be electric,” he said. “And the IBEW will help build it, power it and train the next generation to carry it forward.”
Carney said the plan is expected to lower utility rates in 70% of Canadian homes. The government will spend the next four months consulting with provinces, utilities, private industry, unions and Indigenous groups across the country before deciding on a formal plan.
The four pillars are building infrastructure in a way that keeps energy affordable; connecting the nation’s fractured electrical systems by expanding transmission lines and breaking down barriers between provincial grids; creating a skilled workforce to build the grid; and manufacturing the parts and components for the work in Canada as much as possible.
“We have to unlock Canada’s potential as an energy superpower,” Carney said. “We have a golden opportunity to build a more sustainable and reliable energy system. In a much tougher world, we have to take care of our ourselves.”
Shewchuk pledged that the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood will be a strong partner in doing so.
“The IBEW has the expertise and organizational skills to build these projects from coast to coast,” he said. “When you take a deep dive into it, it’s a big, big deal, and I’m extremely enthusiastic about it. I’m on the back nine of my career, but for our young people, I’m just so excited.”
