Green renovations to make Dakota Oyate Lodge more energy efficiency

SIOUX VALLEY DAKOTA NATION, MB, Feb. 13, 2024 /CNW/ - The Dakota Oyate Elder Care Lodge will benefit from energy-efficiency and accessibility renovations after an investment of more than $2.9 million from the federal government.

Announced by Minister Sean Fraser and Chief Vincent Tacan, this project will work towards making the Dakota Oyate Elder Care Lodge in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation a fully net-zero facility.

Funding will go towards renovations to improve accessibility to the nursing station, which will enhance the health services at the Elder Care Lodge. Solar panels and an energy efficient  heating system will be installed. In addition to this work, HVAC upgrades will be made to support the new heating system which will regulate the building's temperature more efficiently. Once complete, these improvements are expected to reduce the facility's energy consumption by an estimated 104 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 0.83 tonnes annually.

The Dakota Oyate Lodge is a leader in providing specialized care to those in need with an expert team of clinicians and counselors. Elders who move into this community facility maintain healthy lifestyles while living with others who share similar values and history.

"Investing in green infrastructure helps tackle the impacts of climate change, makes communities more resilient to its impacts, while protecting the environment. I am proud that we were able to support the Dakota Oyate Elder Care Lodge. This important facility helps Elders stay in the community they call home, and these upgrades will help ensure its sustainability for generations of Elders to come."

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

"The Dakota Oyate Lodge Net Zero project promotes sustainable technologies while enhancing the quality of life for our Elders. These priorities fall in line with our Dakota philosophy and teachings in caring for our Elders and living in a sustainable way while protecting Mother Earth. The Sioux Valley Dakota Nation is extremely pleased to be a recipient of this funding and in being a leader in green infrastructure."

Vincent Tacan, Chief of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation

• The federal government is investing $2,974,047 in this project through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program.
• The GICB program aims to improve the places Canadians work, learn, play, live and come together by cutting pollution, reducing costs, and supporting thousands of good jobs. Through green and other upgrades to existing public community buildings and new builds in underserved communities, the GICB program helps ensure community facilities are inclusive, accessible, and have a long service life, while also helping Canada move towards its net-zero objectives by 2050.
• At least 10 percent of funding is allocated to projects serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including Indigenous populations in urban centres.
• The GICB program was created in support of Canada's Strengthened Climate Plan: A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy. It is supporting the Plan's first pillar through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the increase of energy efficiency, and helping develop higher resilience to climate change.
• The program is providing $1.5 billion over five years towards green and accessible retrofits, repairs or upgrades.
• As the world moves towards a net-zero economy, people living and working on the Prairies are taking action and are leading to take advantage of growing economic development opportunities.
• On December 18, 2023, the federal government launched the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which highlights the need for a collaborative, region-specific approach to sustainability, focusing on strengthening the coordination of federal programs, and initiatives with significant investments. This Framework is a first step in a journey that will bring together multiple stakeholders. PrairiesCan has dedicated $100 million over three years to support projects aligned with priority areas identified by Prairie stakeholders to build a stronger, more sustainable, and inclusive economy for the Prairie provinces and Canada.
• Building a green Prairie economy is about working together on common interests, to make a sustainable and prosperous net-zero economy achievable.
• Infrastructure Canada is supporting the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy to encourage greater collaboration on investment opportunities, leverage additional funding, and attract new investments across the Prairies that better meet their needs.

Green and Inclusive Community Buildings 
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/gicb-bcvi/index-eng.html

Strengthened Climate Plan
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview.html

Federal infrastructure investments in Manitoba
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/prog-proj-mb-eng.html

Building a Green Prairie Economy Act
https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/B-9.88/page-1.html 

Building a Green Prairie Economy
https://www.canada.ca/en/prairies-economic-development/programs/green-prairie-economy.html

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SOURCE Infrastructure Canada