Funding for energy efficiency retrofits is a good sign, but federal Housing Plan falls short on green building standards for new homes

TORONTO, ON (TRADITIONAL TERRITORY OF THE MISSISSAUGAS OF THE CREDIT, ANISHNABEG, CHIPPEWA, HAUDENOSAUNEE AND WENDAT PEOPLES) – The federal government today released a pre-budget Housing Plan, which includes $900 million in funding to make homes cheaper to heat and easier on the climate. Some of the investment is allocated for energy efficiency retrofits like the installation of heat pumps and home energy labeling. 

“We are relieved to see that the popular Greener Homes Grant and Loan programs have been given a new life with the announcement of the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program geared towards residents with low to median incomes,” said Lana Goldberg, SAFE Cities Climate Campaigner for Stand.earth. “We hope the individual assistance amounts will be larger and more accessible than they were to make it easier for residents to install electric heat pumps and bring down their monthly energy bills while helping to decrease pollution.”

The two programs have been wildly popular, but were running out of funding and set to end. Heat pumps are 300% more efficient than gas furnaces and operate on electricity, leading to reduced monthly energy bills, indoor air pollution, and carbon emissions. 

“While we applaud the federal government for continuing to fund energy retrofits and, more broadly, for committing substantial funds to help build much-needed affordable housing, we are disappointed that today’s announcement didn’t require these new homes to meet modern green building standards,” Goldberg said. “Equipping all new homes and buildings with clean and affordable electric heat pumps is one of the easiest and lowest-cost ways to meet our national climate commitments and invest in a safe future for our children, while ensuring that our homes are healthy and affordable to maintain. The omission of low-carbon building requirements from today’s announcement is a missed opportunity to affordably cut pollution from the buildings sector, one of Canada’s top sources of greenhouse gas emissions.”

In addition to providing low-cost heating, heat pumps also double as cooling devices in the summer and offer air filtration. 

“As more Canadians are forced to live through summers with record-breaking heat and toxic wildfire smoke, it is becoming even more important for buildings to be outfitted with electric heat pumps which also provide cooling to keep homes at a safe temperature during hot summer months, and which filter smoke particulates out of the air,” Goldberg said. “Heat pumps are also affordable to install and lower monthly energy bills in most cases.”

Since heat pumps run on electricity, they can be connected to the electrical system that is inevitably included in a new home. This is in contrast to oil or gas furnaces, which require pipeline and hookup infrastructure. As a result, fitting new homes with electric heating, rather than oil or gas furnaces, often makes new construction faster and cheaper. 

“Instead of giving developers carte blanche to build however they want, federal dollars should be spent on building right the first time,” Goldberg said. “We don’t allow homebuilders to insulate with asbestos or build high-rises without fire escapes, and we shouldn’t allow them to connect polluting gas and oil into new buildings either.”

SAFE Cities is a growing movement of neighbors, local groups, and government leaders working at the local level to phase out fossil fuels and fast-track clean energy solutions to ensure a just transition. The SAFE Cities initiative is housed within Stand.earth, a Vancouver-based global advocacy organization with a team of strategists, researchers, communicators, policy and issue experts working to interrupt the systems that create environmental and climate crises.

Media contacts:

Lana Goldberg, SAFE Cities Climate Campaigner, lana.goldberg@stand.earth (Eastern Time)

Cari Barcas, Stand.earth Communications Director, cari.barcas@stand.earth (Eastern Time)