Canada Revives Green Home Retrofit Program for Low-Income Households in Four Provinces

Nearly two years after quietly running out of money and lapsing into inactivity, Ottawa’s signature home energy retrofit program is back and this time, renters are invited.

The federal government announced Monday the launch of the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program, a rebranded and expanded version of the earlier Canada Greener Homes Grant program, which first rolled out in 2021 before running dry in 2024. Officials cited “global uncertainty, volatile energy costs and growing demand for electricity” as the driving forces behind its revival.

The revamped program will funnel more than $500 million $300 million of it from federal coffers toward energy upgrades for 35,000 low- and median-income households across Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Eligible participants can expect no-cost installations of heat pumps, improved insulation, and better air sealing, among other upgrades aimed at trimming monthly utility bills.

One of the more notable changes from the original program is its expanded eligibility. Where the old grant scheme was limited to homeowners, the new program opens the door to renters who meet the income requirements a shift that could bring meaningful relief to a renter population that has historically been left out of green energy incentives.

Natural Resources Canada says households that go through with the retrofits stand to save between $300 and $1,700 per year on energy costs, while cutting their annual greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 1.5 tonnes.

Quebec leads the pack in terms of funding. The province’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is set to receive $243.5 million in combined federal and provincial money to serve 25,000 households. British Columbia follows with $177.3 million earmarked to expand BC Hydro’s existing low-income program to cover 6,000 more homes, plus an additional $45.2 million directed at FortisBC customers for 1,000 households. Nova Scotia’s Department of Energy will receive $26 million to build on the HomeWarming and African Nova Scotian Communities Retrofit programs, reaching roughly 1,600 households. Prince Edward Island rounds out the group, with Ottawa contributing $11.5 million and the province chipping in $3.5 million of its own to grow its existing Free Insulation Program for income-qualified residents.

The announcement marks a significant course correction for a program whose sudden end in 2024 frustrated homeowners’ mid-application and left advocacy groups calling for its return. Whether the newly injected funding will prove enough to sustain demand through the program’s full run remains to be seen but for now, hundreds of thousands of Canadians in the four participating provinces have reason to check whether their household qualifies.