Making home heating more affordable for Atlantic Canada and other regions

GATINEAU, QC, Sept. 15, 2022 /CNW/ - 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. 

"By helping households transition from home heating oil to more affordable and greener heating sources, we can help Canadians save thousands of dollars on yearly energy bills, all while fighting climate change. We committed to Atlantic Canada that we would come to the table with more help for home energy costs, and today we are delivering on that promise." 
? The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

"Heating and cooling our homes more efficiently?with technology like electric heat pumps?costs Canadians less money and reduces pollution. We're pleased to help Canadians do just that." 
? The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources

"Our government is committed to helping Canadians with the impacts of climate change and the rising cost of living. This new initiative will help Atlantic Canadians realize savings on their heating costs while reducing their carbon footprint?a win for our environment and our economy. We will continue working with provinces and territories to make life more affordable and build an economy that works for everyone." 
? The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

"Atlantic Canadians are particularly vulnerable to global increases in fuel costs, caused by the war in Ukraine and a worldwide disruption in energy markets. Half of our households in the Atlantic region still use home heating oil, and the cost of transitioning to a new, energy efficient electric heat pump can be really daunting. This investment is crucial toward helping our residents with the costs of that transition and is just one step among the many our government is making to reduce emissions while supporting affordability." 
? Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for Kings?Hants and Chair of the Atlantic Liberal Caucus

• Of the $250 million home heating oil envelope, up to $118.4 million is earmarked for Atlantic Canada. Allocations by province will be finalized pending final confirmation with each jurisdiction.
• The Low Carbon Economy Fund is an important part of Canada's clean growth and climate action plans, including through the Emissions Reduction Plan, helping to put Canada on a path to meet its emissions reduction target for 2030 and work toward a net-zero future.
• The Low Carbon Economy Fund supports energy efficiency projects in provinces and territories across Canada, which helps save money by lowering energy costs.
• In Atlantic Canada, 305,900 homes out of 1,022,256 currently use oil, an expensive and carbon-intensive fuel, for their home heating systems.
• Programs offered by provinces to support the transition away from oil heating systems have a very high uptake and are oversubscribed.
• Homeowners will be able to combine this funding with other programs, such as the Canada Greener Homes Grant. By taking advantage of funding programs from different levels of government, some households could see up to 100 percent of their eligible expenses covered, 75 percent of which could be covered through federal initiatives alone.
• Since its launch in 2021, the Canada Greener Homes Grant has supported 19,000 Canadians, including more than 3,400 in Atlantic Canada, with grants and interest?free loans for cost-saving and energy-efficient retrofits such as windows, doors, heating systems, solar installations, and more.

• Low Carbon Economy Fund
• Canada Greener Homes Grant
• 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan ? Canada's Next Steps for Clean Air and a Strong Economy
• Budget 2022 ? A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada