Canada’s Housing Plan helps low-income Canadians reduce costs with energy efficiency

April 12, 2024 — Today’s Canada’s Housing Plan announcement includes funding for a Greener Homes Affordability Program targeted to “low-to-median” income Canadians.

Efficiency Canada’s Senior Director of Policy, Brendan Haley, made the following statement:

“We can take action on climate change while reducing people’s costs with energy efficiency. Some Canadians are spending less on food and prescription drugs because of energy bills and a targeted program will help those in most need.

This funding could double existing provincial investments in low-income energy efficiency, yet represents a reduction in residential retrofit effort compared to the $2.6 billion previously earmarked for the now cancelled Greener Homes Grant program.”

Background and statistics

Energy poverty

• Energy poverty exists when households lack essential energy services to provide a decent standard of living and health.
• Nearly 2 million Canadian households experience energy poverty, measured by spending over 6 per cent of income on energy bills (Census 2021 compiled by Efficiency Canada).
• Seniors, renters, newcomers, and single-parent families are more likely to struggle with stable housing and health. Challenges in keeping their homes warm or cool can worsen these issues.

Our Energy Poverty Map demonstrates how widespread this issue is in each province and territory.

Benchmarking spending

• If the Greener Homes Affordability Program is funded by $800 million over three years it will double existing provincial investments in low-income energy efficiency.
• The total funding of $903.5 million represents a decrease in total federal building retrofit effort. The $2.6 billion investment in Canada Greener Home grants has not been renewed.

Background

• The Greener Home loan and previous grant were not accessible to low-income Canadians due to requirements to pay up-front and receive incentives later.
• In February 2024, the federal government abruptly cancelled the Canada Greener Home Grant program with a budget of $2.6 billion. The government stated that a “new phase” will “offer support targeted to Canadian households with low-to-median incomes”.
• Efficiency Canada led a national campaign for low-income energy efficiency.
• Polling shows that 72 per cent of Canadians are in favour of government funding for low-income energy efficiency.
• The federal government is anticipated to release a Canada Green Building Strategy soon, which promises to “achieve net-zero emissions from buildings” and “drive a massive retrofit of the existing building stock”.

Contact: media@efficiencycanada.org