Ottawa, ON — The big question mark surrounding the future of the Greener Home Grant program has become a bit more clear in its intentions moving forward. On April 12th, Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, deputy minister and minister of finance, and Sean Fraser, minister of housing, infrastructure, and communities, unveiled the federal government’s new housing plan and green building strategy.
When the program was wound down earlier this year, Jonathan Wilkinson, minister of natural resources Canada, promised a revamped version of the program to come in the federal budget. Details are still unclear, reports the Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI).
“To address the twin challenges of climate change and energy affordability, the government will launch the Canada Green Buildings Strategy. The strategy will focus on lowering home energy bills and reducing building emissions by supporting energy-efficient retrofits,” explains Martin Luymes, vice president of government and stakeholder relations at HRAI.
HRAI is proposing that the federal government invest $903.5 million as part of the 2024 budget. The association hopes that funding will be able to officially launch a new Canada Greener Homes Affordability program. This would mean more support for energy-efficient retrofits for homeowners. It is anticipated that more details on the Canada Green Buildings strategy will be released in the coming weeks.
Canada’s housing plan
In addition to the Green Homes Grant announcement, the federal government released its new housing plan, Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan. The plan includes a commitment to make housing affordable, with the stated goal that, “No hard-working Canadian should have to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs. No Canadian should have to live without knowing they have a safe and affordable place to live,” reports the federal government.
As part of the plan, Canada is aiming to unlock 3.87 million homes by 2031, including a minimum of two million net new homes, on top of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s forecast of 1.87 million being built anyway by 2031.