GMF loans supporting Canada’s carbon goals
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) awarded more money through its Green Municipal Fund (GMF) last year than in any single year prior.
FCM uses the GMF to help municipalities in part create capital projects that reduce pollution, improve energy efficiency, build housing that is affordable and sustainable, and revitalize public infrastructure.
In its 2020–21 fiscal year, the FCM awarded $116.4 million in loans and $53.1 million in grants through the GMF—the largest amounts approved in a single year since the fund’s inception. FCM also transferred $155.7 million to establish the Low Carbon Cities Canada network, a partnership with six organizations in seven big cities.
FCM says GMF’s core funding for plans, feasibility studies, pilots and capital projects in brownfields, energy transportation, waste and water continue to ensure municipalities are leaders in addressing climate change.
“Municipalities are responsible for 60 percent of Canada’s core infrastructure, making them critical to a successful economic restart. Municipal leaders are essential partners in the post-pandemic economic recovery, and GMF’s well-established funding can deliver a much-needed stimulus on the frontlines, quickly and efficiently,” said FCM president Joanne Vanderheyden.
Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in communities across Canada, FCM says municipalities continue to drive towards climate neutrality, net zero energy and environmental sustainability.
“With influence over half of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, local governments are key to meeting Canada's climate goals more than ever before,” said Vanderheyden. “This is why the Green Municipal Fund is such a success story: it supports municipalities of all sizes as they act locally to reach net-zero emissions. We are more committed than ever to partner with municipalities to build economically, environmentally, and socially vibrant communities.”
One of the projects funded through the GMF in 2020 is the Zibi District Energy system. The project, which aims to transform 34 acres of brownfield lands on the Ontario and Quebec sides of the Ottawa River, will leverage waste industrial heat, river-coupled cooling, and locally generated hydroelectricity to eliminate GHG emissions from building heating and cooling operations.
The project will be the first district energy system in North America to use post-industrial effluent energy recovery in a master-planned community.
The GMF invested $23 million in the project.
GMF is a $1 billion endowment funded by the Government of Canada and delivered to municipalities by FCM. Its dividends fund programs and increase the total funds that can be invested in communities across Canada.
To date, 1,243 initiatives have been completed, with hundreds more in progress nationwide.
Featured image: The Zibi District Energy system was partially funded through the GMF. (Zibi)