November 22, 2023 – Eaton officially announced the opening of its newest global Innovation Centre, located in Brossard, Que., near Montreal.

“At Eaton, we’re investing $3 billion in research & development targeted at sustainable solutions by 2030,” said Michael Regelski, senior vice-president and CTO, Electrical Sector at Eaton. “The work we’ll do here will break traditional boundaries of what electrical systems can do, and enable far more flexibility in how electricity is generated, distributed, and used to accelerate a more sustainable future.”

At the 35,000-sf space, Eaton says it will accelerate the R&D of distributed energy resource (DER) technologies, “enabling sustainable electricity for buildings, homes, industry and the electric grid”.

The company will focus on developing advanced solutions to optimize DERs by mustering multiple disciplines, including cybersecurity, software, human-centred design and automation.

“Investments in innovation and industry education are crucial to meet clean energy and electrification goals,” said Alexandre Roy, Hydro-Quebec. “We need our industry collaborators, like Eaton, working alongside us to test and develop the new solutions needed to integrate more renewables faster, while also inspiring and training the next generation of engineers.”

Around 150 specialized jobs are coming to Brossard, says Eaton, creating “a local hub for power industry professionals”. The company says it has further plans to grow in the region.

Eaton also says it will continue its relationships with ÉTS Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, McGill, Université Concordia, Université de Montréal and others to increase the industry workforce. In fact, many of Eaton’s employees in the area are alumni of these institutions.

“Knowing that this new Innovation Centre will provide quality jobs in our community is great news by itself,” said Doreen Assaad, mayor, City of Brossard. “But knowing that these jobs will have a positive impact on our environment for years to come is something we should all rejoice in.”

Eaton has a network of manufacturing locations in Canada that build medium- and low-voltage power distribution equipment for commercial, residential and industrial applications.