Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, President and CEO of WaterPower Canada, and Chantal Guay, CEO of SCC, sign a cooperation arrangement at a virtual ceremony that celebrates the milestone while respecting COVID-19 restrictions.
The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and WaterPower Canada have signed a partnership agreement to help advance the competitiveness of Canada’s hydro-electrical industry. This partnership creates new opportunities for substantial industry involvement in promoting efficient and effective standardization activities in national and international markets.
“We are excited to kick-off a new chapter in our relationship with the SCC,” said Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, President and CEO of WaterPower Canada. “Clean and renewable waterpower generates more than 60% of our total electricity in Canada. The unmatched resilience and reliability of our sector is of strategic importance to our country. Hydropower is recognized as a major advantage in the fight against climate change. This partnership gives our members leverage in standardization activities that influence their work in building a clean and sustainable future for everyone.”
“The SCC is thrilled to work more closely with WaterPower Canada to foster more collaboration between the world of standardization and the hydro-electricity industry,” said Chantal Guay, CEO of SCC. “Participation in standards development provides the sector with more opportunities to lead national and international conversations at a time when major challenges like climate change are top of mind.”
Both organizations will strive to achieve the following key measures in this partnership:
- Awareness: undertake activities to promote awareness of each other’s organizations on the value of standardization and the benefits of hydropower;
- Knowledge exchange and research: facilitate activities that provide a broader understanding of future strategic positions, development of technology and the value of standardization in the sector; and
- Recruitment: collaborate to encourage participation in each other’s standardization network and standards development activities.
Through this cooperation agreement, the SCC and WaterPower Canada will also collaborate to advance areas of mutual interest, such as strengthening gender diversity and engaging young professionals.
Traditionally, most standards were developed to provide interoperability between two existing technologies, or as a response to a well-established technology becoming the industry norm. Today, standards are increasingly driving the technologies themselves, in some cases they define business practices. This leads to exciting innovation opportunities for Canada’s hydro-electricity sector not only in Canada, but on the world stage.
About the Standards Council of Canada
The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is a Crown corporation that facilitates the development of standards and promotes their use to enhance Canada’s competitiveness and well-being. It promotes the participation of Canadians in standardization activities to ensure Canada is at the table to help shape the standards of tomorrow. As Canada’s national accreditation body, it accredits conformity assessment bodies to internationally or nationally recognized standards. SCC also accredits standards development organizations which are part of Canada’s standardization system.
About WaterPower Canada
Founded in 1998, WaterPower Canada (WPC) is the national, not-for-profit trade association dedicated to representing the waterpower industry. Its many members span the breadth of the sector and include hydropower producers, manufacturers, developers, engineering firms and other organizations. WaterPower Canada members represent almost all of the waterpower installed capacity in Canada, advocating for the responsible development and use of waterpower to meet our present and future electricity needs in a sustainable manner. Waterpower provides more than 60% of Canada’s electricity and is the second largest generator in the world, ensuring our electricity grid is one of the cleanest globally.