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Homeowners are eligible for a federal grant worth up to $5,600 for upgrades and energy audits.<\/p>\n
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When the federal government launched its Canada Greener Homes Grant a week ago, the interest level was high enough to\u00a0crash the website\u00a0temporarily. The program has received\u00a0at least\u00a030,000\u00a0applications so far.<\/p>\n
Now, energy auditors and contractors say they’re fielding\u00a0a wave of inquiries from homeowners keen to apply for what could amount to\u00a0$5,600 in federal\u00a0support per household.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0There’s literally thousands of homeowners calling,\u00a0\u00bb said Peter Sundberg, executive director of City Green Solutions, an energy efficiency non-profit in British Columbia. \u00ab\u00a0I think there is extremely high demand already.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n But despite the high uptake, there are early concerns about the size and scope\u00a0of the grant program.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0There’s a couple of challenges with this program,\u00a0\u00bb said Tom-Pierre Frapp\u00e9-S\u00e9n\u00e9clauze, director of buildings and urban solutions at the Pembina Institute.<\/p>\n To answer some of those outstanding questions and explore\u00a0the program’s limits, CBC News took a deeper dive into the details of\u00a0Canada Greener Homes Grant.<\/p>\n Homeowners, obviously. But applicants must also\u00a0meet some other conditions\u00a0before applying online:<\/p>\n According to Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN),\u00a0the federal department that administers the program, these are the projects that qualify for the grant:<\/p>\n Materials and equipment, NRCAN says, must be purchased in Canada or from a Canadian online distributor.<\/p>\n Homeowners won’t receive the money upfront. The grant\u00a0only<\/span> arrives after they’ve spent the money \u2014 in some cases\u00a0a considerable amount. To qualify, a\u00a0homeowner\u00a0must first\u00a0undergo an energy audit at their own expense, hire contractors, pay for materials and then pass a final follow-up energy audit \u2014\u00a0again, out of pocket.<\/p>\n Once the upgrades are certified, the government says it will reimburse homeowners and the money should arrive within a month. But a homeowner isn’t guaranteed\u00a0the maximum grant of\u00a0$5,600. The amount of the grant\u00a0depends on the audit conducted when the work is done.<\/p>\n The Pembina Institute says\u00a0that the cost of\u00a0extensive retrofits to\u00a0cut energy bills and reduce emissions\u00a0likely would\u00a0exceed the value of the\u00a0grant. Such work can range in cost\u00a0from $30,000 up to\u00a0$100,000 for a single family home.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0This is not free money,\u00a0\u00bb said Frapp\u00e9-S\u00e9n\u00e9clauze.<\/p>\n Experts say that homeowners should carefully consider their renovation priorities before jumping in. Is the house too hot in the summer? Is it drafty in the winter? Is it time\u00a0to fix that leaky foundation? How big is the building’s carbon footprint? Homes and buildings account for 18 per\u00a0cent of the country’s carbon\u00a0emissions.<\/p>\n Because the surge in demand for the program is driving up\u00a0wait times for energy advisers and contractors, applicants probably will have to\u00a0wait longer than they’d like\u00a0for repairs to begin.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0I think there’s such high demand right now, and there’s only so much capacity in all the provinces and to be able to respond to this,\u00a0\u00bb Sundberg said. \u00ab\u00a0It’s probably best to pause for a moment, think about what the upgrades you might want to do, potentially think about what kind of contractors you would want to work with.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n And there’s no rush; the Greener Homes Grant will be available for the next seven years. In fact, by thinking through their\u00a0home retrofit goals in advance, many homeowners may decide\u00a0it’s quicker and cheaper to do the work\u00a0without waiting for\u00a0government help.<\/p>\n On the other hand, it might be better to wait before applying \u2014 because other orders of government may end up getting into the\u00a0grant game themselves.\u00a0Although B.C., Quebec and Nova Scotia already offer similar supports, other regions could soon announce their own programs,\u00a0which could be combined with the\u00a0federal one.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some\u00a0municipal governments \u2014 including Edmonton and Toronto\u00a0\u2014\u00a0are offering their own\u00a0home retrofit assistance tied to a homeowner’s property taxes. Such municipal\u00a0programs are better known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE for short.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0So with the federal government getting involved, the hope is that this grant can really work in a larger system of supports for Canadians,\u00a0\u00bb said Brendan Haley, a\u00a0policy director at Efficiency Canada.<\/p>\n And sometime over the summer,\u00a0the federal government is expected\u00a0to roll out an interest-free retrofit loan program that could provide up to $40,000 in loan capital per household.<\/p>\n Here’s another possible reason to wait. Home renos\u00a0frequently require multiple contractors. As demand for retrofits increases, we might see more companies offering homeowners one-stop or \u00ab\u00a0turnkey\u00a0\u00bb solutions, said\u00a0Frapp\u00e9-S\u00e9n\u00e9clauze.<\/p>\n Energy efficiency advocates say this is the glaring problem with the program:\u00a0it leaves out renters and homeowners\u00a0who can’t afford to\u00a0spend the money upfront.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0A policy gap is the lack of a program that’s specifically targeted to low-income Canadians in particular,\u00a0\u00bb Haley said.<\/p>\n One non-profit that works with\u00a0multilingual and multicultural communities suggests that, where possible, renters should upgrade to\u00a0programmable or \u00ab\u00a0smart\u00a0\u00bb thermostats and plug any cracks in doors and windows that let\u00a0cold air in.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Heating your space and heating your water is what\u00a060 per cent of your bill is made of,\u00a0\u00bb said Yasmin Abraham, the vice president and co-founder of Empower Me.<\/p>\n Ultimately, however, there’s a limit to what low-income households and renters can\u00a0afford to\u00a0do.\u00a0Abraham called on the federal government to provide programs that serve the needs of every Canadian household.<\/p>\n Source : Article by David Thurton on the website cbc.ca on 4th June 2021<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We have buyers who are actively looking ! <\/p>\n \n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homeowners are eligible for a federal grant worth up to $5,600 for upgrades and energy audits. When the federal government launched its Canada Greener Homes Grant a week ago, the interest level was high enough to\u00a0crash the website\u00a0temporarily. The program has received\u00a0at least\u00a030,000\u00a0applications so far. Now, energy auditors and contractors say they’re fielding\u00a0a wave of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":742,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1906","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWho is eligible?<\/h2>\n
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Which\u00a0upgrades qualify?<\/h2>\n
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Are there strings attached?<\/h2>\n
How can a homeowner\u00a0get the most bang for the buck?<\/h2>\n
What’s available to those who\u00a0don’t qualify for this program?<\/h2>\n
\nIf you know someone who is considering selling,
\nWe can provide a list of comparable sales in their area – it’s FREE, no obligation !<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/93cd80b45544fad91b6b44d60\/images\/4e6f6591-1108-4326-bdd0-44f74a03ea2b.png\")
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