The Government of Canada will invest up to $250 million over four years through the Low Carbon Economy Fund (LCEF) to help make home heating more affordable for families across the country.
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With a focus on lower-income households, this funding will help homeowners who currently use home heating oil move to more affordable and greener home heating sources, like electric heat pumps.
At current energy rates, switching from heating oil to a heat pump has the potential to save homeowners thousands of dollars per year in heating bills.
Approximately $120 million of the overall funding will go to people in Atlantic Canadian provinces, where using oil for home heating is much more common.
Early estimates indicate that clean energy transitions funded by this LCEF allocation could help 10,000 to 25,000 homes nationwide, with over 40 percent of those in Atlantic Canada.
Households’ home heating needs and realities differ across the country.
This new investment will therefore be delivered to Canadians by allocating funding to provincial and territorial governments, which can use their allocations to extend or expand current energy efficiency programs that support the transition from home heating oil to cleaner systems.
"Our government is committed to helping Canadians with the impacts of climate change and the rising cost of living. This new initiative will help Atlantic Canadians realize savings on their heating costs while reducing their carbon footprint—a win for our environment and our economy.
"We will continue working with provinces and territories to make life more affordable and build an economy that works for everyone," said the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities.
Homeowners will be able to combine this funding with other programs, such as the Canada Greener Homes Grant.
By taking advantage of funding programs from different levels of government, some households could see up to 100 percent of their eligible expenses covered, 75 percent of which could be covered through federal initiatives alone. ■