PROGRAM
Exciting plans for the 2025 Canadian Waterpower Week are underway!
Program development for WaterPower Canada’s 2025 national conference is in full swing. Our CWW Program Development & Planning Committee are working on an exciting lineup of new programming and fresh ideas. We are actively seeking dynamic speakers, compelling topics, and forward-thinking perspectives to shape the 2025 agenda. Have a great idea or expertise to share? Don’t wait—submit your topic today and join us in creating a conference that inspires and drives progress in the waterpower sector!
Taking place in our Nation’s Capital, the 2025 conference and trade show will bring together key decision makers, industry experts, policy and business influencers and offer opportunities to come together for an intensive, highly collaborative exploration of new technologies, best practices, and pressing issues, all to enable a collective change. We are thrilled to have industry leaders and seasoned experts exploring where opportunities for cooperation exist, to accelerate progress toward our electric future. Attendees will build knowledge and gain exclusive insights, as well as network and position for success with the largest electricity generation, transmission, energy storage companies and industry related organizations in Canada.
Please note that program development is ongoing and updates are being made daily.
8:00 am – 1:00 pm | WATERPOWER CANADA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING |
4:00 pm – 10:00 pm | TRADE SHOW EXHIBITOR MOVE-INLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
3:00 pm – 8:00 pm | CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPENLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm | WATERPOWER CANADA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)Location: Ontario Room (3rd Floor) |
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm | WATERPOWER CANADA WELCOME RECEPTIONLocation: Mill Street Brew Pub, 555 Wellington Street. OttawaKick off Canadian Waterpower Week by getting to know your peers in a relaxed setting filled with music, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres. This is a great chance for all CWW attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and invited guests to come together to network and catch up with industry colleagues, make new friends, create valuable connections, and celebrate our shared commitment to sustainable waterpower and our clean energy future. Mingle with WPC Members and Government Representatives and chat about the future of waterpower all while taking in the breath-taking views of Generating Station No. 2 (today an asset of Portage Power) that holds the distinction of being Canada’s oldest operating hydroelectric station. Whether you are a first-time attendee or a long-time friend of WPC, this exclusive gathering helps set the stage for the impactful discussions that will take place throughout the week. Make sure to add this valuable networking experience to your conference schedule! |
7:00 am – 7:00 pm | REGISTRATION OPENLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
7:30 am – 8:30 am | BREAKFAST BUFFETLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
8:15 am – 8:30 am | OFFICIAL CONFERENCE OPENINGLocation: Confederation BallroomWELCOME TO THE 2024 CANADIAN WATERPOWER WEEK Canadian Waterpower Week 2024 will commence with introductory remarks from Lorena Patterson, President of WaterPower Canada who will welcome attendees and introduce the theme for the conference. |
8:30 am – 9:30 am | OPENING PLENARYLocation: Confederation BallroomTHE WATERPOWER CANADA DRAGONS’ DAM COMPETITION Witness the excitement of the final round of the WPC Dragons’ Dam competition! The top three teams will present their innovative solutions to a panel of industry leaders, the WPC Dragons, showcasing creativity and ingenuity in tackling real-world engineering and energy challenges. Join us for this dynamic session and cheer on the next generation of innovators as they pitch for top honors (and some great prizes)! Click here for more information on the WPC Dragons’ Dam Competition |
9:30 am – 9:45 am | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
9:45 am – 10:45 am | PLENARY SESSIONLocation: Confederation Ballroom |
10:45 am – 11:00 am | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
11:00 am – 12:00 pm | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 1 |
12:15 pm – 1:45 pm | PLENARY LUNCHEONLocation: Confederation BallroomProgramming in development |
1:45 pm – 2:00 pm | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 2 |
3:00 pm – 3:15 pm | COFFEE & NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
3:15 pm – 4:15 pm | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 3 |
4:15 pm – 7:00 pm | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
4:30 pm – 6:30 pm | CANADIAN WATERPOWER WEEK VIP RECEPTION (by invitation only) |
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm | CANADIAN WATERPOWER WEEK RECEPTION (for all conference attendees)Location: Canadian Waterpower Week Trade Show | Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | CANADIAN WATERPOWER WEEK NETWORKING DINNERLocation: Confederation BallroomJoin us for an evening of connection and camaraderie at the CWW Networking Dinner. The evening offers speakers, delegates, sponsors, exhibitors and guests a unique opportunity to meet, network, and catch up in a social environment. Share insights, exchange ideas, and cultivate new opportunities in a welcoming and engaging atmosphere. This gathering provides a valuable opportunity to discuss and reflect on the sessions from the first day of conference activities, and allows attendees to continue the dialogue in a more relaxed setting. |
7:30 am – 8:30 am | BREAKFAST BUFFETLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
8:30 am – 9:30 am | MORNING PLENARYLocation: Confederation Ballroom |
9:30 am – 9:45 am | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
9:45 am – 10:45 am | PLENARY SESSIONLocation: Confederation Ballroom |
10:45 am – 11:00 am | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
11:00 am – 12:00 pm | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 4 |
12:00 pm – 12:15 pm | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
12:15 pm – 12:45 pm | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 5 |
12:45 pm – 1:00 pm | NETWORKING BREAKLocation: Conference Floor (4th Floor) |
1:00 pm – 2:45 pm | CLOSING PLENARY LUNCHEONLocation: Confederation BallroomTHE WATERPOWER CANADA DRAGONS’ DAM COMPETITION Enjoy a delicious lunch while witnessing the excitement of the final round of the WPC Dragons’ Dam competition! The top three teams will present their innovative solutions to a panel of industry leaders, the WPC Dragons, showcasing creativity and ingenuity in tackling real-world engineering and energy challenges. Join us for this dynamic session and cheer on the next generation of innovators as they pitch for top honors (and some great prizes)! Click here for more information on the WPC Dragons’ Dam Competition |
3:00 pm | CONFERENCE CONCLUDED |
7:30 am – 8:30 am | Breakfast Buffet sponsored by Hydro-Québec |
8:30 am – 9:30 am | Morning Plenary sponsored by Hydro-QuébecWhile our 2035 net-zero electricity goal was challenging, our ultimate goal is to build a net-zero economy by 2050. This massive undertaking will challenge our ability to plan, design, and build large scale energy projects, and will require development on an unprecedented pace for our industry. Join Claudine Bouchard, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating and Infrastructure Officer at Hydro-Québec; Rodrigue Gilbert, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Procurement Practices, Canadian Construction Association; and other industry leaders as they engage in conversation. |
9:30 am – 10:00 am | Networking Break & Visit the Trade Show |
10:00 am – 10:45 am | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 4Stream A: Planning and Reliability4A – Certifying Sustainable HydropowerJoin Lynn St-Laurent and Christian Turpin from Hydro-Québec as they share specifics surrounding the certification of the Eastmain-1 Development under the International Hydropower Association’s Hydropower Sustainability Standard. Join them for a discussion with those involved in these projects, along with sustainability experts. Stream B: Environmental and Indigenous Relations4B – Snow and Water Digital TwinsHear from Ion Padilla, Co-founder and CEO of Wegaw, and Matt Elgin, Head of Business Development at Wegaw as they discuss their methods of modelling snow and future water runoff with geospatial data and machine learning. Stream C: Operations, Construction and Projects4C – Lessons Learned from the Keeyask Generating StationBarnard Construction, Hatch and Manitoba Hydro will come together to discuss lessons learned from the recently completed Keeyask hydroelectric project. This session will be moderated by Mike Westgate, Vice President, Business Development – Canada, Barnard Inc; and will feature Tom Tonner from Manitoba Hydro; Mike Fuller from Barnard Inc; and Warren Gendzelvich from Hatch. |
10:45 am – 11:15 am | Networking Break & Visit the Trade Show |
11:15 am – 12:00 pm | CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSION 5Stream A: Planning and Reliability5A – Hydropower’s Value to a Net-Zero Electricity Grid & Improving Efficiency. What are the Possibilities?Review of WaterPower Canada’s latest NRCan funded studies. Brady Yauch from Power Advisory LLP will discuss the critical role that Canadian hydropower facilities play in providing essential grid services to maintain a balanced and reliable grid, and Martin Dodge from Hatch will discuss the potential for increasing capacity at Canadian hydropower facilities and the results of their comparative cost study. Stream B: Environmental and Indigenous Relations5B – Climate Change and Impacts / Solutions from Indigenous communitiesMany of the utilities in Canada have plans to address climate change and are working with Indigenous communities to implement those plans. Listen to a panel of Indigenous and Industry experts discussing how climate changes is impacting Indigenous communities and the opportunities for partnering to bring about change. Conversations will also include government funding for Indigenous equity in capital projects, particularly renewable energy projects. Presenters include Muhamud Hassan, Chief of Staff, United Nations Association in Canada; Guy Lonechild, CEO of the First Nation Power Authority; and Christian Matossian from TC Energy. Stream C: Operations, Construction and Projects5C – System Planning and Delivery of MegaprojectsJoin James Burpee; Dr. Kathleen Vaillancourt, President of ESMIA Consultants; and Oskar Sigvaldason as they engage in a conversation surrounding the planning and delivery of megaprojects. Canada’s dominant challenge, from now to mid-century, will be to successfully plan and implement the largest and most expensive infrastructure development program in the history of Canada. This is in response to meeting economic growth, and GHG mitigation targets, and includes a major program of end-use electrification. This places special emphasis on the importance of comprehensive, integrated planning, as well as rebuilding the management capacity, to successfully deliver major infrastructure programs. This will include unprecedented expansion of large-scale hydro and pumped storage developments across Canada. |
12:00 pm – 1:45 pm | Closing Plenary Luncheon presented by Manitoba HydroPowering Through a Changing WorldThis session summarizes the discussions from the past two days. Our path to net-zero begins with the first steps. Join our closing panel to explore our immediate take-aways on this journey. Moderated by Francis Bradley, President & CEO of Electricity Canada, panelists will include André Bernier, Director General, Electricity Systems Branch (ESB) at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan); Dave Bowen, Vice-President of Operations from Manitoba Hydro; and Jean Habel, Director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada at Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA). |
2:00 pm | Conference concluded |
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm | Additional ProgrammingTECHNICAL TRAINING SESSIONSANDRITZ | Generator Rotor Structural impacts & RefurbishmentsVOITH Hydropower | The Scale of DigitalDigital as an Enabler – How do we best utilize “digital” to help us in our jobs of producing, monitoring, and communicating our changing production levels to balance our business objectives – whether they be saving money, making money, increasing capacity, seasonal contractual obligations, availability, or running to failure? Where does “digital” deliver demonstrable value at the power unit level, the power station level, the fleet level, and across the industry? We could say “digital twin” and imagine that encompasses everything, but we would betray the facts that it takes a LOT of technology to make and maintain a “digital twin”. Join Brent Ward from VOITH Hydropower as he takes a look at the range of uses of digital technology to see what fits where and when and what benefits digital could bring and the resulting trade-offs.These trainings are complimentary for all conference registrants, but please confirm your attendance by emailing conference@waterpowercanada.ca. |
All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The program is subject to change at WaterPower Canada’s discretion.
Please note, all sessions are conducted in English. Live translation into your preferred language is available for all plenary sessions.
Past Program
While we’re hard at work developing an exciting new program, please revisit and explore recent Canadian Waterpower Week Programs and Speakers.