The Government of Canada has the largest fixed asset portfolio in the country with 32,000 buildings, 20,000 engineered assets such as bridges and dams, and more than 40,000 vehicles, all of which use a significant amount of energy. We also spend more than $20 billion each year on goods and services serving Canadians.
As directed by the Greening Government Strategy (GGS), the Government of Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its operations. The Greening Government Fund (GGF), one component of the strategy, provides funding to support innovative projects in government departments across Canada.
Created in 2019, the GGF provides funds to other federal government departments to explore and share innovative approaches to reducing GHG emissions in their operations. Project funding comes from existing budgets of departments and agencies that generate more than 1 kilotonne of GHGs per year from air travel and from departments that are below this threshold and contribute voluntarily.
Greening Government Fund investments are an opportunity to support the transition to a low-carbon economy, stimulate the clean tech sector, contribute to Canada's international climate change commitments, and achieve cost savings. To date, the GGF has approved approximately $46 million in funding for 63 projects from different federal departments/agencies to support projects that reduce GHG emissions in government operations.
New, Ottawa-based Greening Government Fund Projects
The Government of Canada is announcing 8 different projects from 3 different departments. These 8 projects-out of 19 across Canada-are led from the National Capital Region in partnership with teams in the regions and represent important greening changes in federal operations. These projects are listed below.
- The Naval Electric Ship Technologies (NEST) project assesses the feasibility of hybrid and/or all‐electric solutions for Royal Canadian Navy ships. The goal is to reduce GHG‐emissions from ship platforms and operations toward 2050 net‐zero targets while maintaining operational capability. The NEST project team includes DND's Materiel group, the Royal Canadian Navy, Natural Resources Canada and the NRC's Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre. The Department of National Defence project received $1.295M from the Greening Government Fund.
- The Ship Platform Exploitation of Energy Data (SPEED) initiative will provide a better understanding of how energy is used by Royal Canadian Navy ships in their different operational tasks. The energy-use data is being used to develop ship energy models that simulate electrical, heating and cooling loads, as well as the overall vessel energy consumption during different uses. The project received $750K from the Greening Government Fund and has the same collaboration team as above.
- Natural Resources Canada's High-Temperature-Resilient Renewable Heating Systems project will analyze renewable energy and thermal storage systems. The project received $300K from the Greening Government Fund and will support the decarbonization of federal buildings with high-temperature heating distribution systems.
- The Novel and Provisional Electric Vehicle Charging Stations project will conduct a market and best practice scan of fleet charging solutions. The project received $39,946 from the Greening Government Fund and will address challenges to electric vehicle readiness at federal facilities. (Natural Resources Canada)
- The Employee Access to Federal Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment project received $50K from the Greening Government Fund to develop guidelines for managing employee access to federal electric vehicle supply equipment. The project includes an environmental scan, case studies, a pilot project in multiple CBSA locations, and the development of guidance and recommendations. (Natural Resources Canada, Canada Border Services Agency)
- The Green Public Procurement Tool project will develop a tool that allows federal organizations to search for and procure environmentally friendly products. The project received $2.1M from the Greening Government Fund and will encourage green procurement in federal operations. (Public Services and Procurement Canada)
- The Reduce Scope 3 GHG Emissions project will assess the environmental impacts of the government's scientific equipment. The project received $1.35M from the Greening Government Fund and will develop tools to reduce GHG emissions associated with scientific equipment. (Public Services and Procurement Canada)
- The Life-Cycle Assessment project will conduct life-cycle assessments on federally owned buildings. The project received $835K from the Greening Government Fund and will determine the baseline carbon footprint of existing federal buildings. (Public Services and Procurement Canada)
Departments are implementing the Greening Government Strategy through projects like these to contribute Canada's transition to a net-zero and climate-resilient economy. In addition, procurement activities factor in greening considerations like buying hybrid or zero-emission vehicles and clean electricity. It means adopting clean technologies such as smart buildings technologies, and renewable electricity initiatives.
