OTTAWA--Canada will provide more than $7 billion to expand power generation in Atlantic Canada in its quest to double the capacity of its electricity grid by 2050.

The money is earmarked for the Churchill Falls hydroelectric expansion project in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the largest in Canada. When completed, Churchill Falls and a new generation station to be built on nearby Gull Island will produce enough power for homes in Canada's three largest cities combined, officials said.

Federal officials peg the cost of the power expansion at about 50 billion Canadian dollars (US$36 billion), or among the largest clean-energy projects in North American history.

"This provides the power we need to run the mines, the mills, and the factory floors where Canadians are building our future," said Canada's Prime Minister, Mark Carney, according to prepared remarks.

At present, most of the energy from Churchill Falls--enough to power more than four million--is sold to Hydro-Québec under a long-term contract. The billions in Canadian government financing are part of a new deal reached between the governments of Newfoundland and Quebec. The deal incorporates a higher price the Atlantic Canadian province fetches for its power from Quebec, among other things.

Officials said the planned ramp up in electricity generation could entice further investments in Canada's mining sector, as a stretch of Atlantic Canada and Quebec remains an important source of high-purity iron ore.

Canada has targeted a doubling of electricity production by 2050 to meet demand anticipated by rare-earths miners, artificial-intelligence data centers and advanced manufacturing.