renewable energy grants and programs

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Canada Greener Homes Grant program is no longer accepting new application after February 5, 2024.

If you have completed your Energy Audit on or before February 5, 2024, you will still qualify to receive grants for completing your retrofit projects.  However, the Canada Greener Home Loan application is still open. This loan may only be used to complete your retrofit projects such as solar panels installation.  The loan is up to $40,000 and is zero interest, payable in 10 years. 

According to Natural Resource of Canada, Buildings, including our homes, account for 18% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. With this in mind, the Canada Greener Homes Grant (CGHG) program was launched in the summer of 2021.  In January 2023, Enbridge Gas Inc has partnered with CGHG to enhance the rebates from $5,600 to $10,600.   This program will allow Canadian homeowners to retrofit their homes to become more energy-efficient and contribute to climate change, including solar installation and the addition of batteries to solar PV.

CGHG also offered up to $40,000 interest free loan to help homeowners completed their energy retrofit project.  Currently, the cities of Ottawa and Toronto has also launched a loan program to help people finance their retrofit project. These loans range from zero to 2% percent.  You can view the details of these program by following the link below in this page.

The cities of Guelph, Hamilton, and Burlington are also soon offering loans to finance your home improvement projects.

Home Efficiency Rebate Plus (HER+)

Enbridge Gas and the Canada Greener Homes Grant have partnered to enhance rebates up to $10,600 to help qualified Ontario homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient.  The eligible grants is up to the total of $5,600 if you are not an Enbridge Gas customer or the home is located outside of Ontario;  or up to $10,600 if you are Enbridge Gas customer.

In this program, one of the eligible retrofits is renewable energy.  Homeowners who chose to install solar panels to offset their power consumption can be eligible for grant of $1000 per kilowatt installed, provided that you install the minimum of 1000 watt.  The retrofits under Resilience Measures including installation of battery storage with Solar PV is also eligible if the home you are applying for grant is your primary residence.

Please visit  Enbridge Gas website to learn more about the enhance rebate program.

Pre-qualification is simple.  If your answer is yes to the following questions, you are one step in to being approved.

Eligible property types

Your property is eligible if it falls under one of the following types. If your property falls under multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs), you should review the additional eligibility criteria for MuRBs.

  • Single and semi-detached houses
  • Row housing
  • Townhomes
  • Mobile homes on a permanent foundation
  • Permanently-moored floating homes
  • Mixed use buildings (residential portion only)
  • Low-rise multi-unit residential buildings (three storeys or less with a footprint of 600 sq. meters or less)

Special measures are also available for Northern and Off-Grid Communities.  If your live or own a property in these areas, you may be able to qualify for grants. You can read the full details for eligibility by following this link. Grants for Canadian homeowners living in the North and off-grid communities (nrcan.gc.ca)

City of Toronto Home Energy Loan Program

If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, a Home Energy Loan Program is available to you.  You can take advantage of low-interest loan from the City of Toronto for up to $75,000 to fund your home improvements project including home energy -retrofit.  The interest rate starts as low as 2% and you can repay the loan at any time, without penalty. Eligible improvements include energy-efficient furnaces, windows, doors, solar PV panels, insulation and more. You may use this program in conjunction with other rebate and incentive offerings.

You can check out the details of this offering at this site, https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/home-energy-loan-program-help/

  1. Check with Enbridge Gas, Toronto Hydro and Toronto Water to understand what rebates or incentives maybe available before you start
  2. Make sure you have all necessary permits. Call 311 for more details.
  3. Explore ways to make your renovation greener and healthier (E.g. request the use of non-toxic, low VOC products, sustainably harvested wood products, etc.)
  4. Look for contractor recommendations from trusted friends and family and aim for a minimum of two quotes
  5. Ask for references from potential contractors and get contracts in writing.
  6. Ask contractors for their license number and verify it at the Business Licence Lookup website.  Call 311 for more details
  7. Take before and after pictures
  8. For more tips and resources, go to BetterHomesTO.ca

City of Toronto Energy Retrofit Loans

Through its Energy Retrofit Loan program, the City offers low-interest loans to help building owners improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. All buildings located in Toronto are eligible.

The City offers financing for up to 100% of project costs, at a rate equal to the City’s cost of borrowing, with repayment terms up to 20 years.

To find out the details of this program, you can follow this link. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/energy-retrofit-loans/.  Here, you will find list of eligible projects, eligible buildings, the application process, interest rates and terms and why you should choose an Energy retrofit loan.

Better Homes Ottawa Loan Program

If you live in the Ottawa area, you may be qualified for a zero-interest load of up to the lesser of $125,000 or 10 percent of the current value of your home to cover the cost of your home energy improvements.

To check if you are eligible, list of eligible measures, and how to register to this program, you can follow this link https://ottawa.ca/en/living-ottawa/environment-conservation-and-climate/climate-change-and-energy/better-homes-ottawa

Check with Enbridge Gas, to understand what rebates of incentives may be available before you start.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

While customers are responsible for covering the upfront cost of the initial and final home energy assessments, $600 will be reimbursed with your final rebate cheque if your initial energy assessment was completed on June 3, 2021 or later.

Yes, homeowners can participate in both programs but cannot receive duplicate rebates for the same qualifying energy efficiency improvements and energy assessments. For further clarity, you cannot apply for rebates for the same home energy assessment costs, heating system, water heating system, insulation upgrades, air sealing or the same windows or doors. Rebate stacking is not permitted with the Home Efficiency Rebate. The Canada Greener Homes grant is a federal offer and is not associated with Enbridge Gas.