HALIFAX,
NS, July 16, 2024 /CNW/ - The Canada Green
Buildings Strategy (CGBS) introduces the Government of Canada's vision and next steps to improve
energy efficiency in Canada's
homes and buildings, which will in turn cut energy bills for
Canadians and support good jobs from coast to coast to coast.
Today, the Honourable Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of
Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development
Agency of Canada for the Regions
of Quebec, on behalf of the
Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources, introduced the $800 million Canada Greener Homes
Affordability Program (CGHAP) to help low-to-median-income
Canadians, including tenants, upgrade their homes to save money on
their energy bills and cut pollution. This new program will replace
the Canada Greener Homes Grant (CGHG) with more comprehensive
support for the installation of retrofits, at no charge to
participating households. Using a "direct install" model, where the
retrofits are managed and delivered by third parties, this program
could provide participating households with support up to four
times more valuable than the former grant program. Recommended
retrofits will be determined by experienced energy efficiency
professionals, enabling each participant to receive what their home
needs and making their homes more affordable and comfortable.
The CGHAP builds on the progress made to date through the CGHG,
which has already helped 240,000 homeowners install heat pumps,
windows and doors, and insulation through an average grant of
$4,400 per household. Each year, a
CGHG household will save an average of nearly $400 on their energy bills and reduce their
emissions by 1.18 tonnes of CO2. Over the next couple of years, the
CGHG will continue to help hundreds of thousands more program
participants complete retrofit projects that will further reduce
emissions and energy consumption.
In addition to CGHAP, the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program
and the Canada Greener Homes Loan will continue to help Canadians
reduce their home energy costs and make the switch to electric heat
pumps. To date, nearly 160,000 heat pump installations have been
supported by federal funding. Switching to a cold climate electric
heat pump will have a significant impact on households that are
fully heating with oil, as they could save from $1,500 to $4,500
per year on their home energy bills.
The Government of Canada has
also committed to introducing a regulatory framework to phase out
the installation of expensive and polluting oil heating systems in
new construction, as early as 2028. This phase-out would include
necessary exclusions for regions with insufficient access to the
electricity grid and where standby back-up heating fuel is
required.
The Government of Canada is
also greening its own infrastructure, with the goal of fully
meeting the energy needs of federal buildings with clean energy
sources, by eliminating the use of fossil fuels for space and water
heating where possible and building with net zero in mind from the
start.
To help develop a sustainable foundation for years to come, the
Government of Canada's new Buy
Clean approach will build on Canada's clean manufacturing advantage. The
approach supports a shift to low-carbon materials and design
through federal construction procurements and public infrastructure
asset investments, which reduces the full life cycle of emissions
from building materials and projects, fosters manufacturing
competitiveness and creates jobs.
Canadians want to live in sustainable communities: places with
clean air, affordable homes and good jobs. The Government of
Canada's investments in greening
buildings and switching from fossil fuels to clean electricity are
key to lowering GHG emissions while supporting a strong and
affordable economy.
Quotes
"The Government of Canada is
committed to achieving its climate goals and reducing monthly bills
for Canadians. The Canada Green Buildings Strategy demonstrates one
way the government is working to lower greenhouse gas emissions. I
am pleased to participate in an announcement about investments that
will not only make Canada's homes
and buildings more climate resilient but also boost economic
growth, cut costs for Canadians and create quality jobs across the
country."
– The Honourable Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism and
Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of
Canada for the Regions of
Quebec
"Energy efficiency means cost savings for Canadians. At a time
when we are facing challenges with affordability and climate
change, this plan meets Canadians where they are at and delivers
the action they need, at the pace and scale they are demanding. The
first-ever Canada Green Buildings Strategy is a plan to save
Canadians money, create jobs and seize the economic opportunities
that a clean and sustainable economy presents."
– The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources
"As we work toward ending Canada's housing crisis, we need to ensure the
longevity of new and existing buildings by making them more energy
efficient and resilient to the impacts of climate change. We are
proud to announce these investments today that will go a long way
in doing just that across the country."
– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure
and Communities
"The Canada Green Buildings Strategy is all about building more
energy-efficient and affordable homes and buildings. Cutting the
wasted energy from the heating and cooling of our buildings is a
win-win, for both lowering energy bills and reducing harmful
pollution going into our atmosphere. Already, in Canada, we have seen a tidal shift in the
adoption of heat pumps at a household level, as well as clean
energy solutions for large commercial buildings and industry. It is
through close collaboration between provinces and territories,
municipalities, Indigenous Peoples, businesses and individuals that
we can keep this progress going over the coming years and make a
big dent in the emissions coming from our buildings sector."
– The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and
Climate Change
"Our government is taking ambitious steps to achieve net zero by
2050 through our Greening Government Strategy. By implementing a
Buy Clean approach to a real property portfolio of over 34,000
buildings nationwide, we are maximizing energy efficiency while
minimizing the environmental impact of construction materials and
design. Through these efforts, we are leading the fight against
climate change."
– The Honourable Anita Anand, President of the Treasury Board and
Minister responsible for the Centre for Greening Government
"As we build our way to greater housing affordability, we can't
lose sight of the fight against climate change. By ensuring that
new homes are built to be efficient from the start, we can avoid
locking in higher future emissions at the same time as we support
much-needed retrofits across the country. With the Canada Green
Buildings Strategy, we are putting energy efficiency at the heart
of our efforts—helping to reduce emissions from residential and
institutional buildings and save Canadians money on their energy
bills."
– The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Member of Parliament for
Halifax West
Quick facts
- Buildings are Canada's
third-largest emitter of GHG emissions. Nearly all building
emissions—over 96%—come from space and water heating. To tackle
this problem, major changes in the building sector are under way,
with the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help
Canadians save money on their energy bills.
- Retrofitting existing buildings, building green from the start
and choosing alternatives to fossil fuel heating equipment, such as
electric heat pumps, will help Canada achieve its net-zero commitments by
2050. There is also a need to build stronger to better equip
communities to withstand the effects of climate change.
- To reach Canada's climate
goals, reduce energy bills and build up Canada's supply of energy-efficient and
resilient building stock, there is a need to accelerate the
retrofit of approximately 10 million buildings and construct
millions of new net-zero buildings in the coming decades.
- Canadian households spend an average of $2,200 a year on home energy costs, and these
costs are significantly higher in homes that heat with oil and in
older homes with poor insulation, ventilation and heating/cooling
systems.
- The Canada Green Buildings Strategy is a commitment in the 2030
Emissions Reduction Plan: a sector-by-sector approach to reach
Canada's climate target of cutting
emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, laying the
foundation to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
- The Canada Greener Homes Grant has been issued to 240,000
Canadian households for retrofits, with an average grant of
$4,400 per household. These retrofits
are removing over 306,540 metric tonnes of GHG emissions,
equivalent to taking nearly 94,000 fossil fuel–powered vehicles off
the road.
- The Canada Green Buildings Strategy is funded as a part of
Budget 2024 and is mentioned in Solving the Housing Crisis –
Canada's Housing Plan. It
complements Canada's National
Adaptation Strategy, which lays out a framework to reduce the risk
of climate-related disasters, improve health outcomes, protect
nature and biodiversity, build and maintain climate-resilient
infrastructure, and support a strong economy and workers. New and
ongoing federal initiatives are already starting to put the
strategy's vision into practice.
Associated links
- The Canada Green Buildings Strategy: Transforming Canada's
buildings sector for a net-zero and resilient future
- Backgrounder with additional details on investments
- Codes Acceleration Fund
- Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative
- Retrofit Hub (canada.ca)
- Toward net-zero homes and communities
- Greener Neighbourhoods Pilot Program
- ENERGY STAR Canada
- Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program (OHPA)
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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada