How green has Canada’s houses received? The report takes a closer look at the federal discounts program
The Federal Government has provided $ 2.6 billion for heat pumps, solar panels, isolation and other green updates to the Canadian houses through the subsidy of Canada’s most green houses. But what difference did he actually do?
A new report published this week From the green communities without profit, Canada suggests that the program has not done enough to achieve Canada’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This is because “the savings are not deep enough and because we are not doing quite retrofit,” said Kai Millyard, energy director of the group and co -author of the relationship.
What was the subsidy of Canada’s most green houses?
The federal subsidy program was launched in December 2020, with Declared objectives To help Canadians reduce their energy bills, create new jobs for energy consultants and fight climate change. Natural resources Canada says that buildings represent 18 percent of Canada emissionsMaking them the third sector emitted the largest than the economy, after oil, gas and transport.
The program offered up to $ 5,000 per family for green retrofit that could be added to other funding, such as provincial and territorial programs. The money could be used to subsidize the costs of electric heat pumps, windows and more efficient doors from an energy point of view, air seal, domestic insulation and solar panels.
Applications open in December 2020 e abruptly closed in February 2024. While the program should have lasted for Seven yearsBy 2023, the government said the funds were Finishing earlier than expected due to the popularity of the program. However, the grants are still paid to existing candidates.
A famous federal discount that provides houses of houses up to $ 5,600 for retrofit of their homes to make them more efficient from an energy point of view is running out of money before expected. The subsidy for green houses should have lasted until 2027 but it could be dried up well before.
The subsidies led to enormous absorption of the heat pump …
Over 500,000 Canadian families applied to the program. Starting last January, 366,786 had completed the retrofit and received a discount on average of $ 4,498, The federal government reports.
Estimates that it has cut 704,000 tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to taking 215,670 cars from the road. On average, he says, each participating family is saving $ 386 on energy costs and has cut their greenhouse gas emissions 1.92 tons following their backstone.
About 60 % of the candidates chose to install a heat pump and were the best retrofit of the owners of houses in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Terranova and Labrador, New Scotland, Ontario and Quebec. The Federal Government claims to provide 250,000 installations of heat pumps by the end of the program.
Millyard recognizes that the subsidy program has made a huge difference in the adoption of electric heating technology, which replaces ovens and boilers burning gas and oil in many houses- one of the main sources of greenhouse gases from buildings.
“He built a significant market,” he said. “The industry is learning quickly and there is a question across the country for heat pumps. This was a really important development.”
There was also an increase in solar installations during the program. In 2024, they represented 56 % of the retrofit in Alberta and were the retrofit at the top in Pei, Yukon and Nunavut.
Some islanders are nervously waiting to know more about the future of the Solar Discount Program of the Province, after it was recently paused. Companies are sitting on equipment that expected to use this summer and those who hope to put the panels on their homes are concerned about not being approved if changes are made. Tony Davis of the CBC has history.
… but less isolation
In the meantime, the report has noted that during the program, the use of subsidies for updates of the insulation has decreased.
The program asked people to obtain an energy audit from an energy consultant, which recommends which updates to make: a service that Green Communities Canada has provided through member organizations. Audit may also be provided by private companies.
But the report discovered that most people whose energy consultants recommend insulation and the work of air loss have not done so.
Millyard said that wall insulation is often performed in collaboration with other projects, such as the finishing of a basement, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, “so there were many people who had recommendations to make updates to the houses that could not afford to reach”.
Dylan Trebels trained to help people with their domestic energy backgrounds. The thirty -year -old left his work as a company technology desk hoping to be part of an army of record auditors registered.
Only 29,000 out of 600,000 retrofit by the end of 2024 were “deep retrofit” which cut the use of energy of 50 %. This generally requires to do three: to update the building casing with things such as better insulation, heating and hot water and the addition of renewable energy such as solar panels.
The new report argues that it is what is necessary to achieve the goal of Canada of Net-Zero emissions by 2050, and should be a priority in future subsidies for the greenest home.
Canada must also intensify the rhythm of retrofit, he says. While the subsidy for green houses has been designed for retrofit of 100,000 houses per year, the report says that it will take more than 100 years for retrofit of all 11 million existing houses in Canada at that rhythm. In the meantime, 2050 is just 25 years later.
Scientists have decided to explore the impact of covering each roof on earth with solar panels. Their research has discovered that the exchange of traditional energy sources with solar on the roof could actually cool the planet, lowering global temperatures up to 0.13 ° C.
Which retrofit are more effective?
Maya Papineau is associated professor of economics at Carleton University in Ottawa who compared the actual energy savings to the savings provided by the energy consultants during the Ecoenergy programthe predecessor of the granting of more green houses.
The study of the houses that participated in Medicine Hat, Alta., Found that the air sealing and the isolation of the attic and walls were relatively effective, but the insulation of the basement and the energy -efficient windows had no effect on energy bills.
Overall, domestic retrofits reached only about 60 % of the energy savings provided for by energy consultants, discovered the study. Deep retrofits also reached only 50 % of the estimated energy savings.
Papineau said that it is likely why the Energy modeling Canada Resources Canada used by energy consultants both for the Ecoeenergy program and for the program of subsidy for green houses underestimates the energy efficiency of most homes.
He said he reported this problem to the government and planned to work there.
Getting a heat pump was not an option during the econergy program, but it is something that has a significant impact on the carbon emissions of a house and Papineau thinks that it is one of the best things that a home owner can do with a subsidy for green energy.
Ottawa is giving Atlantic Canadians more time to move on to heat pumps. Last week, the federal government announced that it would pause the carbon tax for oil heating for three years. Amy Smith of the CBC Nova Scotland spoke with Professor Wayne Grosko of the Dalhousie University Envilogy Studies on the impact.
Does Canada need another Green Homes program?
The transformation of the Canada economy is necessary to reach clear zero and families must be part of it, said Papineau.
“I think that energy efficiency can be and should be a fundamental part of climate change policy. But it must be done in a way that improves returns to families,” he said. Otherwise, they may not want to participate anymore.
Millyard, of Green Communities Canada, said that any new program needs larger subsidies so that people can actually make all the backsmen they need. He also said that the programs cannot last only a few years and then disappear, like the subsidy of the greatest houses in Canada and previous programs.
“For organizations like us in the energy efficiency sector, it is a murder,” he said. “You know, you train a lot of people and then you have to let them go.”
Canada still has a loan program for green houses, but the absorption has been relatively low. Millyard said that loans “are generally not good enough in the residential sector”, which needs subsidies.
“The pressure to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions is only growing,” he said, “so we have to go back to … a better version of a program like (the subsidy of the greatest houses in Canada) so that we can return to retrofit of our homes”.
Electoral promises
At this point of the federal election campaign, the NDP has promised $ 1.5 billion per year Retrofit 2.3 million low -income houses in 10 years, as well as loans to help one million other families.
On their websites, the liberal party says that it will provide domestic retrofit subsidies up to $ 5,000 and interest -free loans up to $ 40,000, while the green party promises a national background program, but has not provided details. Retrofit are not mentioned on the Conservative Party website.
