Canada announces plans for IRA-style solar and storage investment in 2023 budget

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
A PV installation in Canada from Invenergy Renewables. Image: Invenergy Renewables.

Canada will introduce tax credit incentives and invest in developing and manufacturing solar PV, energy storage and other renewable energy technologies in an Inflation Reduction Act-style scheme.

The Government of Canada has released its 2023 budget, which positions growing the clean economy as one of its core priorities, alongside healthcare and ‘affordability’. Under the budget, the government has confirmed the 30% refundable tax credit on investments made by taxable entities into clean energy technologies like solar, battery storage and wind. This builds on the Fall Economic Statement 2022 plan, which was covered in our sister site EnergyStorage.news.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

A 15% refundable tax credit for investments into clean electricity generation and energy storage by non-taxable entities – like indigenous communities and municipally-owned utilities – was announced as well.

It also proposes to introduce a 30% refundable tax credit for clean technology manufacturing, applying to investments into machinery and equipment used for manufacturing processes as well as extracting, processing and recycling critical materials to clean supply chains.

As part of the budget announcement the Canada Infrastructure Bank will invest up to CA$20 billion (US$14.7 billion) into clean energy growth and infrastructure projects, in the form of two separate CA$10 billion (US$7.3 billion) facilities through its Clean Power priority area and its Green Infrastructure priority area. The investments will come from existing resources, the government said.

In its 2021 budget the government announced a 50% income tax cut for zero-emission technology manufacturers, which this new 2023 budget will extend for a further three years and expand to include nuclear equipment producers as well.

The budget also includes a 13-year plan to invest CA$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) in supporting clean energy projects through infrastructure and Smart Grid programme development and research into offshore wind capabilities.

The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) welcomed the 2023 budget announcement as a boon for the industry’s competitiveness: “The choice to pursue investment tax credits for clean technology, like wind, solar, storage and green hydrogen, will allow Canada to take a competitive lead in accelerating the decarbonisation of the energy sector,” said Evan Wilson, senior director of policy and government affairs at CanREA.

In its official statement, CanREA said that “With the support of these new investment tax credits, CanREA expects the deployment of new wind solar and storage to accelerate significantly.”

CEO of Canadian Renewable energy company Westbridge Renewables, Stefano Romanin, said in a statement sent to PV Tech: “With Canada’s power usage expected to double by 2050, it is imperative to invest in clean technology that will help us meet that demand in a sustainable way. These initiatives will not only further enable companies directly working in the sector, but also help attract the nearly estimated CA$150 billion in investment required to help Canada meet its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”

The US’ landmark IRA, which set aside huge credits for energy transition investment, has seen others like the EU – and now Canada – trying to follow suit and remain competitive. Details of the scheme are yet to be clarified.

More to follow…

25 November 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe continues to be the place to leverage a network that has been made over more than 10 years, to build critical partnerships to develop solar projects throughout the region.

Read Next

June 10, 2025
Australia’s Queensland government has confirmed an AU$2.4 billion investment in the CopperString transmission project, aiming to extend the National Electricity Market (NEM) to the North West Minerals Province.
June 9, 2025
Sonnedix has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Renfe to supply 420GWh of renewable energy annually for its commercial operations.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  
June 6, 2025
Eternal Sun has acquired German solar simulator provider Wavelabs, which has resulted in the formation of a new subsidy, Wavelabs Eternal Sun.
June 6, 2025
Australia’s Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has called on Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, to “urgently intervene” on a rule change that could threaten to derail the uptake of rooftop solar PV.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece