Every Canadian deserves to be able to heat their home with affordable, reliable, and clean power. Today, the Government of Canada is following through on its commitment to deliver practical solutions to home heating affordability, especially for Atlantic Canadians, while continuing to fight climate change.
This afternoon, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault; along with the Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson; the Minister of Rural Economic Development, the Honourable Gudie Hutchings; and Members of Parliament from across the Atlantic, announced an important step forward. The Government of Canada will invest up to $250 million over four years through the Low Carbon Economy Fund (LCEF) to help make home heating more affordable for families across the country. With a focus on lower-income households, this funding will help homeowners who currently use home heating oil move to more affordable and greener home heating sources, like electric heat pumps. At current energy rates, switching from heating oil to a heat pump has the potential to save homeowners thousands of dollars per year in heating bills.
Approximately $120 million of the overall funding will go to people in Atlantic Canadian provinces, where using oil for home heating is much more common. Early estimates indicate that clean energy transitions funded by this LCEF allocation could help 10,000 to 25,000 homes nationwide, with over 40 percent of those in Atlantic Canada.
Households' home heating needs and realities differ across the country. This new investment will therefore be delivered to Canadians by allocating funding to provincial and territorial governments, which can use their allocations to extend or expand current energy efficiency programs that support the transition from home heating oil to cleaner systems.
Making life affordable while fighting climate change is a core priority of the Government. By investing in Canadian families, the Government is putting money back in people's pockets, keeping our air clean, and growing the economy.
