MIL OSI Translation. Canadian French to English –
Source: Government of Canada – in French 1
March 14, 2024 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Natural Resources Canada
Improving residential energy efficiency is a key element in the fight against climate change and reducing housing costs. The Government of Canada is partnering with municipalities to remove the obstacles facing many
many Canadians who want to access the funds necessary to make these improvements.
That is why today, the Honorable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of the Honorable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and Scott Pearce, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), announced an investment of $9.5 million through the Green Municipal Fund to expand the reach of the Clean Foundation’s clean energy financing program to municipalities across the New Scotland.
Since 2016, the Clean Energy Financing Program has supported residential energy improvements in rural communities and is available to homeowners in the Town of Bridgewater, Town of Amherst, District of Digby, District Municipality of Lunenburg, the Municipality of Barrington, the District Municipality of Yarmouth and the County of Cumberland in Nova Scotia.
This investment of $9.5 million makes it possible to expand the program by making improvements such as reduced participation fees and better marketing, and to improve services, in particular by carrying out residential energy analyzes more efficiently and by offering an incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage the completion of more extensive renovations.
The clean energy financing program generally uses a property assessment-based financing model, which means homeowners can gradually repay their loans at low rates through their property tax bills. . Maximum loan amounts vary between $10,000 to $40,000 among participating municipalities and financing options also vary since some municipalities may offer a fixed amount instead of financing based on the value of the property. Under the program, loans support energy renovations to homes, including insulation, the installation of heat pumps and electric vehicle charging stations, as well as the installation of solar panels. Such improvements can lead to annual reductions in emissions totaling 1,617 tonnes of CO2 and energy consumption totaling more than 20,400 GJ.
Since its inception in 2020, GMF’s Community Efficiency Financing (CEF) initiative has supported municipalities as they test new ways to help homeowners increase the energy efficiency of their homes and stimulate it even creates jobs and the economy at the local level. These programs also aim to demonstrate the needs of the residential renovation market and explore the possibilities of attracting capital loans from the private sector. Established as part of a $950 million investment planned in the 2019 budget, the FEC is one of the means implemented by the FMV to continue its action
to provide federal government support for transformative environmental projects in communities. The GMF is managed by the FCM and funded through an endowment from the Government of Canada.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.
