Feds, FCM invest in Toronto energy refit program
The federal government has bolstered a Toronto program aimed at helping home owners finance home-energy retrofits.
Toronto-Danforth MP Julie Dabrusin announced an investment of nearly $14.6 million through the federal Community Efficiency Financing initiative to help recapitalize Toronto’s Home Energy Loan Program (HELP). The initiative has completed 245 retrofit projects with 18 more currently underway.
The federal funding will support enhancements to HELP so the program will better support energy efficiency and decarbonization of houses in Toronto, while growing the model nationally.
“Today's investment will enable the City of Toronto to build on the Home Energy Loan Program's (HELP) legacy of retrofitting hundreds of homes, in line with Toronto and Canada's ambitious climate targets,” said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. “This is a tangible step towards bringing energy efficiency, job creation, and affordability to communities across Ontario and Canada."
HELP uses a local improvement charge financing model and is administered by City staff. The program is open to detached, semi-detached and row houses of any age. The program currently supports energy-efficiency, renewable-energy, energy-storage and water-conservation measures.
The City of Toronto aims to use the funding to increase market awareness through planned outreach and provide more support to homeowners, contractors, industry associations and realtors to plan and undertake retrofits.
HELP will also continue to increase capacity-building and knowledge-sharing among internal and external stakeholders to grow the model in other communities across Ontario and Canada. HELP is aligned with and supports the City's accelerated TransformTO Net Zero climate action strategy and target to reduce city-wide greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors to net zero by 2040, including all homes and buildings.
"Reducing emissions from homes and buildings is a critical piece of our TransformTO Net Zero climate strategy and achieving our net zero target by 2040,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “Ongoing investment and action from all levels of government will be critical to addressing the climate crisis."
The Community Efficiency Financing (CEF) initiative is offered through the Green Municipal Fund (GMF) delivered by Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada. The CEF helps communities of all sizes implement innovative local financing programs that directly help homeowners cut their greenhouse gas emissions, make their homes more energy-efficient, comfortable and affordable, while creating local jobs and building the capacity for a thriving retrofit market in Canada's cities.
The Government of Canada has invested $1.65 billion in the GMF since its inception.