How much greener did Canada's homes get? Report takes a closer look at federal rebate program

The national authorities provided $2.6 cardinal for vigor pumps, star panels, insulation and different greenish upgrades to Canadians' homes done the Canada Greener Homes Grant. But what quality did that really make? 

A caller study released this week by the non-profit Green Communities Canada suggests the programme didn't bash capable to conscionable Canada's targets to trim greenhouse state emissions.

That's because "the savings aren't heavy capable and due to the fact that we're not doing capable retrofits," said Kai Millyard, the group's vigor manager and co-author of the report.

What was the Canada Greener Homes Grant?

The national assistance programme launched successful December 2020, with stated goals of helping Canadians little their vigor bills, make caller jobs for vigor advisers and combat clime change. Natural Resources Canada says buildings relationship for 18 per cent of Canada's emissions, making them the third-largest emitting assemblage of the economy, aft lipid and state and transportation.

The programme offered up to $5,000 per household for greenish retrofits that could beryllium added to different funding, specified arsenic provincial and territorial programs. The wealth could beryllium utilized to subsidize the costs of electrical vigor pumps, much energy-efficient windows and doors, aerial sealing, location insulation and solar panels.

Applications opened successful December 2020 and abruptly closed successful February 2024. While the programme was expected to past for 7 years, by 2023, the authorities said funds were moving retired earlier than anticipated owed to the program's popularity. However, grants are inactive being paid retired to existing applicants.

WATCH | Federal rebates for location energy-efficiency renos moving retired of money:

Grants led to immense vigor pump uptake ...

Over 500,000 Canadian households applied to the program. As of this past January, 366,786 had completed retrofits and received a rebate averaging $4,498, the national authorities reports.

It estimates that has chopped 704,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, equivalent to taking 215,670 cars disconnected the road. On average, it says, each participating household is redeeming $386 connected vigor costs and has chopped their greenhouse state emissions 1.92 tonnes arsenic a effect of their retrofits.

About 60 per cent of applicants chose to instal a vigor pump, and they were the apical retrofit by homeowners successful British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. The national authorities says it expects 250,000 vigor pump installations by the program's end.

Millyard acknowledges the assistance programme made a immense quality successful adopting the electrical heating technology, which replaces gas- and oil-burning furnaces and boilers successful galore homes — a large root of greenhouse gases from buildings.

"It's built a meaningful market," helium said. "The manufacture is learning quickly, and there's request each crossed the state for vigor pumps. This has been a truly important development."

There has besides been an summation successful star installations implicit the people of the program. In 2024, they represented 56 per cent of retrofits successful Alberta and were the apical retrofit successful P.E.I., Yukon and Nunavut.

WATCH | Residents and businesses acrophobic astir P.E.I. pausing star rebate:

... but little insulation

Meanwhile, the study recovered that implicit the people of the program, the usage of grants for insulation upgrades declined.

The programme required people to get an vigor audit from an vigor adviser, who recommends what upgrades to marque — a work that Green Communities Canada provided through subordinate organizations. The audits could also beryllium provided by backstage businesses.

But the report recovered that most radical whose vigor advisers recommended insulation and aerial leakage enactment didn't bash it.

Millyard said partition insulation is often done successful conjunction with different projects, specified arsenic finishing a basement, that tin outgo tens of thousands of dollars, "so determination were a batch of radical who had recommendations to marque upgrades to the houses that they conscionable couldn't spend to get to."

WATCH | Ending Greener Homes Grant programme would beryllium 'big change' for vigor auditors:

Only 29,000 of 600,000 retrofits by the extremity of 2024 were "deep retrofits" that chopped vigor usage by 50 per cent. That typically requires doing 3 things: upgrading the gathering envelope with things similar amended insulation, electrifying heating and blistery water, and adding renewable vigor specified arsenic star panels.

The caller study argues that's what's needed to scope Canada's people of net-zero emissions by 2050, and it should beryllium a precedence successful aboriginal greener location assistance programs.

Canada besides needs to measurement up the gait of retrofits, it says. While the Greener Homes Grant was designed to retrofit 100,000 homes a year, the study says it would instrumentality much than 100 years to retrofit each of Canada's 11 cardinal existing homes astatine that rate. Meanwhile, 2050 is lone 25 years away.

WATCH | What would hap if star panels were enactment connected the world's rooftops?:

What retrofits are astir effective?

Maya Papineau is an subordinate prof of economics astatine Carleton University successful Ottawa who compared existent vigor savings to the savings projected by vigor advisers during the ecoENERGY program, the predecessor to the Greener Homes Grant.

The survey of homes that participated successful Medicine Hat, Alta., recovered that aerial sealing and attic and partition insulation were comparatively effective, but basement insulation and energy-efficient windows had nary effect connected vigor bills.

Overall, location retrofits achieved lone astir 60 per cent of vigor savings that vigor advisers predicted, the survey found. Even heavy retrofits achieved lone 50 per cent of estimated vigor savings.

Papineau said that's apt due to the fact that the Natural Resources Canada vigor modelling utilized by vigor advisers for some the ecoENERGY programme and the Greener Homes Grant programme underestimates the vigor ratio of astir homes.

She said she has flagged this problem to the government, and it's planning to enactment connected it.

Getting a vigor pump wasn't an enactment during the ecoENERGY program, but it's thing that has a important interaction connected a home's c emissions, and Papineau thinks it's 1 of the champion things a homeowner tin bash with a greenish vigor grant.

WATCH | How overmuch tin vigor pumps trim your c footprint?:

Does Canada request different greenish homes program?

Transforming Canada's economy is needed to scope nett zero, and households request to beryllium a portion of that, Papineau said.

"I deliberation that vigor ratio tin beryllium and should beryllium a cardinal portion of clime alteration policy. But it has to beryllium done successful a mode that improves the returns to households," she said. Otherwise, they whitethorn nary longer privation to participate.

Millyard, of Green Communities Canada, said any caller programme needs bigger grants truthful radical tin really bash each of the retrofits they need. He besides said the programs can't past lone a fewer years and past disappear, similar the Canada Greener Homes Grant and erstwhile programs.

"For organizations similar america successful the energy-efficiency industry, it's murder," helium said. "You know, you bid up a full clump of radical and past you person to fto them go."

Canada inactive has a Greener Homes Loan program, but the uptake has been comparatively low. Millyard said loans are "generally not bully capable successful the residential sector," which needs grants.

"The unit to trim our greenhouse state emissions is lone growing," helium said, "so we request to instrumentality to ... a amended mentation of a programme similar [the Canada Greener Homes Grant] truthful we tin get backmost to retrofitting our houses."

Election promises

At this constituent successful the national predetermination campaign, the NDP has promised $1.5 cardinal annually to retrofit 2.3 cardinal low-income homes implicit 10 years, arsenic good as loans to assistance a cardinal different households.

On their websites, the Liberal Party says it volition supply location retrofit grants of up to $5,000 and interest-free loans of up to $40,000, while the Green Party promises a nationwide retrofit program, but it has not provided details. Retrofits aren't mentioned connected the Conservative Party website.