VANCOUVER - With 18 percent of harmful greenhouse gas emissions coming from our buildings, increasing residential energy efficiency is an important part of Canada's efforts to reach net zero by 2050. Making homes more energy-efficient not only fights climate change, but it also creates good jobs while helping Canadians save on their monthly energy bills.
That is why, today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced the first call for proposals for the Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities program. This program offers funding for projects that explore and implement innovative technologies and practices that seek to improve the energy efficiency of homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our communities and neighbourhoods.
The program will help drive Canada's progress toward net-zero building emissions by 2050. It seeks to empower communities - including Indigenous, rural and remote or under-resourced communities - to lead in the fight against climate change by supporting projects that increase energy reliability and efficiency while simultaneously making homes and residences more comfortable and more affordable. In doing so, this program will also create good, sustainable, jobs across the country.
This program is open to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that are developing projects that target one of three streams:
Addressing barriers to the adoption of energy-efficient technologies;
Capacity building in support of net-zero-energy-ready building codes;
Facilitating home energy labeling and disclosure to encourage deep energy retrofits.
The Toward Net-Zero Homes and Communities program will help Canadians make their homes more energy-efficient now and for the future. The program will invest up to $14.6 million over the next four years. Applications for this first call for proposals will be accepted until August 31, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. PST.
