How we unlock plug-in solar across Canada

These are the regulatory levers, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, that permit certified plug-in solar without legislation. Pick a campaign to see the specific actors, mechanisms, and precedents.

Photo: Dpalma01 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Pathways

Don't need legislation

With precedent

Quebec — what unlocks it

Caroline Proulx — Ministre responsable de l’Habitation

Mechanism: Amendment to Civil Code of Quebec provisions on divided co-ownership

Amend the Civil Code of Quebec co-ownership provisions so that syndicats de copropriété cannot categorically prohibit certified plug-in solar installations. Reasonable siting and aesthetic conditions remain available; outright prohibition does not. Unlocks participation for renters and co-owners.

Legal basis: Recent amendments to the Civil Code of Quebec constrained what syndicats de copropriété can prohibit regarding EV charging. The legal instrument and legislative template are ready to extend to certified balcony solar — which similarly sits at the boundary between individual-unit modification and common-element regulation.

Legislature required? Yes

Precedent: The EV-charger amendment is a direct template. The constituency (renters + co-owners) is larger for balcony solar than for EV charging.

Régie du bâtiment du Québec — RBQ — Board and Regisseurs

Mechanism: Amendment to Code de construction, Chapitre V (Électricité) under the Building Act

Create a plug-in generation class in Chapitre V of the Code de construction for certified systems under 1200W. Certified equipment meets the installation safety requirements without a licensed maître électricien for cord-and-outlet connection only.

Legal basis: The Loi sur le bâtiment (L.R.Q., c. B-1.1) gives the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) authority over the Code de construction. The Code can be amended by regulation to create a cord-connected plug-in solar class with reduced permit and electrician requirements when certified equipment is used.

Legislature required? No

Precedent: The RBQ regularly amends the Code de construction to keep pace with new equipment standards and revisions to the Canadian Electrical Code. The regulatory machinery operates routinely.

Jean Boulet — Ministre de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie

Mechanism: Shareholder directive under the Hydro-Québec Act and Loi sur la Régie de l’énergie

Direct Hydro-Québec to create a plug-in mesurage net category for certified systems under 1200W. On-site use only, anti-islanding required. Exempt from the engineering review, interconnection agreement, and bi-directional meter upgrade that currently apply to all distributed generation.

Legal basis: Hydro-Québec is a Crown corporation with the Government of Quebec as its sole shareholder. The Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy represents the shareholder and can direct Hydro-Québec on policy matters including tariff structure and interconnection rules, subject to approval by the Régie de l’énergie where rates are implicated. A simplified plug-in category for certified systems under 1200W can be instituted without legislative amendment.

Legislature required? No

Precedent: Hydro-Québec has been directed through shareholder instructions on EV charging network deployment, demand response programs, and renewable procurement. The governance mechanism is well-established.

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