Patrick Flannery
Greener Homes Initiative portal now open
Canadian Contractor grant greener nrcan rebate subsidyNatural Resources Canada has launched its portal allowing Canadian homeowners to apply for the Canada Greener Homes Grant, a subsidy of up to $5,000 for qualifying energy-efficiency upgrades on residences. An EnerGuide evaluation must be conducted in advance. The program will reimburse the cost of the EnerGuide evaluation if the homeowner completes the full retrofit process. Residents of Quebec need to apply through the RenoClimat programs and residents of Nova Scotia through the Home Energy Assessment program. All others use the NRCan portal.
Government description of the program here.
The program is backdated to qualifying retrofits occurring after Dec. 1, 2020. The retrofits must have been recommended by the EnerGuide evaluator. The grant may stack with other grants from the homeowner’s provincial and regional governments.
For windows and doors, the homeowner can receive up to $125 per hole for Energy Star windows or sliding glass doors, $250 per hole for Energy Star Most Efficient windows or sliding glass doors and $125 per hole for Energy Star hinged doors. Windows and doors must be purchased in Canada.
Insulating an attic to an R-50 rating can attract a rebate of up to $1,800 depending on the former rating. Flat roofs or cathedral ceilings get rebates for insulating to R-28, or increasing the rating by R-20. Exterior walls qualify for up to $5,000 in grants if insulated to an R-20 value or above. All insulation grants are pro-rated for the percentage of the home’s total area being upgraded.
Insulating more than 120 square feet of exposed flooring to R-20 gets a $350 grant.
Insulating more than 20 percent of basement and crawlspace walls also qualifies for grants. Getting a header to R-20 pays $240. Insulating 50 percent of the entire slab to at least R-35 pays $400. Insulating basement walls can pay up to $1,500 with an R-22 improvement. Insulating crawlspaces can get a grant up to $1,300.
Air sealing the home can get grants anywhere from $550 for work that meets the recommendations in the evaluation to $1,000 for renovations that exceed them by 20 percent or more.
Replacing manual thermostats with programmable models gets a $50 grant. Heat pump grants range from $5,000 for a full geothermal system down to $2,500 for an Energy Star-certified air source pump. Upgrading to an Energy Star hot water heater pays $3,000. Heat pumps must be purchased in Canada.
Installing solar panels on a single family homes gets a grant of $1,000 per kilowatt generating capacity. The panels must be purchased in Canada or from a Canadian online distributor.
There are also grants for installing battery power storage, roofing membrane, foundation waterproofing and moisture-proofing crawlspaces, walls and basement headers.
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They are asking for a big leap on the air source heat pumps, all of the qualifying systems require an electric air handler (furnace) which will require many (most?) homes to upgrade their electric service. The home envelope rebates seem a lot more attractive. I guess they feel the provincial rebates are already good enough with regards to HVAC.
Who knew changing to a greener way of living could be financially beneficial.
Well I jumped at chance when I heard of the rebate with greener home energy for up to $5000. Plus $600.00 plus GST .
I got my home energy evaluation from a legit company . Or I thought and paid the initial $400.00 plus GST !
Now I cannot get any response from the advisor or my energy report ! How long should it have taken to make a report after the evaluation ? I somehow think I got screwed out of this money .