Hydro-Québec is set to present their increases in electricity rates over the next three years on Thursday.
The Crown corporation will be holding a press conference Thursday to present their rate application presented to the Régie de l’énergie.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is denouncing the 4.8 per cent increase in electricity rates for small and medium businesses for the years 2026 to 2028, in order to freeze residential customers’ bills at 3 per cent.
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“We have calculated the impact of future increases and submitted more than 10,000 petitions signed by entrepreneurs asking not to politicize the issue of electricity rates and to regulate cross-subsidization,” stated François Vincent, CFIB’s vice-president for Quebec.
“The Quebec government has decided to turn a blind eye, to cover its ears and to make SMEs swallow the increase.”
Back in April, the Legault government had blocked the planned residential electricity rate increase at 3 per cent.
The government adopted a decree to this effect, while the Régie de l’énergie had decided on a 3.6 per cent increase.
At the time, the Legault government acknowledged that the industrial and commercial sectors may have to absorb a higher increase to compensate for Hydro-Quebec’s 0.6 percent loss in revenue.
Small and medium-sized companies to bear the brunt of increases
According to CFIB’s May 2025 survey data, the trade war with the United States is causing 37 per cent of Quebec SMEs to lower profits and 32 percent to lower total revenues. It is in this context of great economic uncertainty that companies will reap the brunt of the electricity rate bill.
The Quebec government’s actions are not helping, says the CFIB, pointing to SME tariffs that are slated to increase by 29.6 per cent from 2023 to 2028.
“We are asking our entrepreneurs to be more productive, to stand firm in the face of the trade war with the United States and the counter-tariffs that penalize them,” says Vincent, in a press release.
