Propane: Canada’s Untold Energy Advantage

While others chase markets and megawatts, propane is already powering Canada’s growth — and ready to power the world’s data

By Shannon Watt, CPA President & CEO

OTTAWA, JANUARY 26, 2026 — Governments across Canada are recognizing the immense potential to strengthen Canada’s economy with investments in AI and new data centres. Canada has a major strategic advantage in its geography and propane resources to help remote data centres meet strict power needs.  Canada’s propane industry is one of our now not-so-hidden strategic advantages and it’s one we should exploit.

While many Canadian industries are still searching for markets beyond the United States, propane has quietly been doing it for years. Since 2018, Canadian producers have expanded into global markets, delivering reliable, lower-emission energy to communities around the world, and here at home. Today, more than 40 per cent of Canadian propane exports are bound for Asia, serving as a versatile fuel for expanding economies.

An abundance of global propane is produced in Canada and is built for Canadian realities. It has powered Canadians for decades, performing in deep cold, reaching remote regions, and keeping homes, farms, mines, and fleets running. Now, it’s ready to power something new: Canada’s data-driven future. Whether as a primary source or a critical backup, propane can keep data centres online when the grid can’t, ensuring our digital economy runs as reliably as the people and communities it serves.

Data centres need power that’s cleaner, reliable, and independent of the grid. Most operate under strict uptime requirements of 99.99% or higher. Meeting this demand requires more than incremental improvements to existing utility infrastructure. It calls for flexible, scalable solutions that can be deployed quickly and meet evolving environmental standards. Propane delivers exactly that: immediate, on-site energy that can keep critical servers running.

Every server, cloud platform, and data centre runs on power — and demand is growing at an unprecedented pace. The next generation of AI servers could consume up to three times more electricity than today’s models.

A 2023 Public Policy Forum study projects that Canada’s electricity demand will double by 2050, requiring generation capacity to expand by 2.2 to 3.4 times today’s levels. Yet even now, some of Canada’s power grids are struggling to meet existing demand, underscoring the urgency of new investment and planning. We are no longer in an energy transition; we are in a period of energy addition. Meeting future demand will require every available source of reliable power, and propane should be at the forefront.

Canada’s grids are already under strain. In January 2024, western Canada came dangerously close to running out of power during one of the coldest periods on record. In the East, rising energy costs and reliability issues are making power shortfalls during extreme weather a growing concern.

Canada’s energy strategy must focus on building domestic capacity; propane should be central to that goal. As global trade pressures mount, Canada needs to strengthen its own energy framework while continuing to export where we can, powering emerging global economies.

The 2025 federal budget recognizes the need for Canada to shift from foreign markets to building domestic strength, productivity, and independence. Prime Minister Mark Carney has framed the current global and domestic situation as a generational crossroads in which the world is experiencing fundamental changes that call for bold investment in Canada’s long-term future. Building infrastructure is a key pillar in this budget to make Canada more resilient and less reliant on the U.S.

Budget 2025 commits nearly $1 billion toward a large-scale sovereign AI infrastructure—a mission charged to new AI minister Evan Solomon. These facilities will need cleaner, reliable, Canadian energy to function. That’s where propane can and should play a crucial role.

If Canada is serious about becoming an energy superpower, propane—domestic, abundant, and ready to power the next generation of AI infrastructure—must be part of the plan. Propane isn’t a temporary solution or a bridge fuel. It’s the affordable, lower-emission energy addition that fuels resilience, competitiveness, and national strength and it’s ready to power Canada’s next chapter.