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Serving Cambridge & City of Cambridge

Electrical & Mechanical Engineering in Cambridge.

Electrical and mechanical engineering for Cambridge industrial, manufacturing, commercial and institutional facilities, with coordinated power and ventilation planning.

Discuss a Cambridge projectExplore local services
Electricity distributor
GrandBridge Energy Inc.
Building permits
Building Services Division (City of Cambridge)
Regional services
Region of Waterloo

Local Project Support

Power and mechanical planning for Cambridge industry.

Cambridge contains a strong mix of manufacturing, fabrication, warehousing, commercial buildings and adaptive-reuse properties. Machinery, dust or heat-producing processes, make-up air, cooling and service-capacity requirements often need to be assessed together rather than as isolated discipline changes.

Where a building permit is required, the City of Cambridge administers the municipal review. Electrical service connections or upgrades may involve GrandBridge Energy; the project address and current connection requirements should be confirmed before the design basis is finalized.

For process-driven work, see our guidance on industrial ventilation and make-up air and our electrical capacity-study service.

Verified local information

Utility connection and permits in Cambridge

Summarized from the official pages linked below, checked on . Requirements change; confirm them with the utility and the municipality before you apply.

Electrical service connection

GrandBridge Energy Inc.

GrandBridge's OEB distribution licence places the City of Cambridge, as it stood on January 1, 1978, in the Energy+ Rate Zone, apart from a short list of individually excluded addresses.

GrandBridge's Conditions of Service require services in the Cambridge core areas (Galt, Preston and Hespeler) to be installed underground when a new service or a change in service is needed; in these areas, 120/208 V three-phase services and 347/600 V three-phase services above 200 A are supplied only where the customer provides for a padmount transformer.

GrandBridge needs an ESA notification number to book the connection appointment for a service layout, and an ESA Connection Authorization before it energizes a new service or re-energizes an altered one.

For three-phase developments in municipal site plan review, GrandBridge asks customers to contact it before submitting planning applications, reviews the electrical site plan and load calculation, and sends its servicing requirements to the municipality.

Rate zone: Energy+ Rate Zone.

What to prepare

  • A service layout request through GrandBridge's Service Layout Form, giving the scope of work, the existing and proposed service type, voltage and amperage, and the requested energization date
  • For a new commercial or industrial build, renovation or addition: GrandBridge's Load Estimate Form, with the estimated maximum demand, the expected load over the first five years after energization, the building area, the NAIC code and a short business description
  • An electrical single-line drawing and the plan review submission made to ESA
  • A legal reference plan (property lines, building footprint, metering equipment location, electrical room access, driveways and nearby hydro equipment) and a legal electrical site plan showing the proposed padmount transformer location inside the property
  • For three-phase developments going through site plan review: the approved site plan in PDF and DWG, a final load calculation to ESA standards and a final single-line diagram, each sealed by a P.Eng., and a list of equipment that could affect power quality

Contractor & Developer Hub

Building permits

Building Services Division (City of Cambridge)

Online applications: City Application Portal (City of Cambridge Online Applications).

Region of Waterloo

The Region of Waterloo issues its own development charges for development in Cambridge, issues access permits for new entrances onto properties from Regional roads, and requires a permit to occupy or work within a Regional road right-of-way.

Building permit informationRegion of Waterloo permits

Planning and growth areas

  • The Region of Waterloo's 2024 Central Transit Corridor monitoring report names Downtown Cambridge as one of the three urban growth centres linked by the corridor, with Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo, and describes Stage 2 of ION light rail as an 18 km extension to Cambridge.

    Source: regionofwaterloo.ca

  • Through an Official Plan Amendment for the Hespeler Road Corridor Secondary Plan, the City of Cambridge is setting a planning framework for future development and redevelopment along the Hespeler Road Corridor, an area that includes three Protected Major Transit Station Areas.

    Source: cambridge.ca

Typical project environments

Typical project types

  • Manufacturing & Fabrication
  • Process Ventilation
  • Warehousing
  • Commercial Buildings
  • Adaptive Reuse
  • Plant Capacity Upgrades

Engineering services in Cambridge

Electrical engineering

Explore electrical

Mechanical & HVAC design

Explore mechanical

Plumbing engineering

Explore plumbing

Integrated MEP

Explore integrated MEP

Starting a project in Cambridge

Who issues building permits in Cambridge?

Building permits in Cambridge are handled by the City's Building Services Division, and applications can be submitted and tracked through the City Application Portal. For multi-unit residential and non-residential (ICI) projects, the City lists the permit application with Schedule 1 designer information, an Ontario Building Code matrix, commitments to general review by the architect and engineers where required, and discipline drawings including electrical, HVAC, plumbing and fire alarm. Please confirm current requirements on the City of Cambridge Building Permits page.

Official source:cambridge.ca

Who handles electrical service connections in Cambridge?

GrandBridge Energy, formed on May 2, 2022 by the merger of Energy+ and Brantford Power, distributes electricity in Cambridge. For a new commercial or industrial build, renovation or addition, GrandBridge asks for a service layout request and a load estimate form with supporting drawings, and it requires an ESA Connection Authorization before energizing a service. Please confirm current requirements on GrandBridge Energy's Contractor & Developer Hub.

Official source:grandbridgeenergy.com

Does the Region of Waterloo play a role in Cambridge building projects?

Yes. The Region of Waterloo issues its own development charges for development in Cambridge, separate from the City's, and it issues access permits for new entrances from Regional roads. Please confirm current requirements on the City of Cambridge Development Charges page and the Region's Access Permit page.

Official sources:cambridge.caregionofwaterloo.ca

Can ETEM support both electrical and mechanical engineering for a project in Cambridge?

Yes. ETEM can define the electrical and mechanical workstreams the actual scope requires. Each discipline's drawings are prepared and sealed by a licensed engineer, and shared loads, rooms, controls and construction interfaces are reviewed through one project workflow.

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