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How the grant process works

The Canada Greener Homes Grant is no longer accepting new applicants. Homeowners who are already participating are encouraged to proceed in a timely manner with their retrofits and will continue to be eligible for funding and support through the Canada Greener Homes portal.

If you are an Ontario, Quebec or Nova Scotia homeowner participating in the Home Efficiency Rebate Plus, the Rénoclimat or the Home Energy Assessment program, please contact your provincial program for more information.

The Canada Greener Homes Loan and the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program remain open. Thank you for your interest.

The Canada Greener Homes Initiative provides grants and a loan for EnerGuide evaluations and for retrofits. It is important that you read all eligibility criteria and grant requirements to be sure that you will qualify for the grant at the end of the process.

Canada Greener Homes Grant: The homeowner journey (for existing applicants)

Text version
  • Step 1. Apply – Select a service organization.
  • Step 2A. Pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation – Prioritize your renovations.
  • Step 2B. (optional) Interest-free loan - Apply for the Canada Greener Homes Loan.
  • Step 3. Retrofit your home - Consult the renovation upgrade report.
  • Step 4. Post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation - Log in to the grant portal to access the results.
  • Step 5. Request and receive your grant - Upload your documents, and confirm your grant.
  • Step 6. Complete your retrofit journey – Enjoy the benefits and savings of a greener home.

How the grant process works

Step 1. Closed to new applications

The Canada Greener Homes Grant is now closed to new applicants. Existing applicants are encouraged to continue the process.

There are other programs available throughout Canada, which can help you make your home more energy efficient.

To explore other funding opportunities, visit:

Residents of the following provinces, refer to your provincial program for further information:

New Brunswick, Rossland (BC), Nelson and Regional District of Central Kootenay (BC)

New Brunswick, Rossland (BC), Nelson and Regional District of Central Kootenay (BC) have requested that we direct residents from those areas to go through the respective provincial or municipal program first to ensure homeowners can take advantage of the network of energy advisors already established for those regions.

Step 2A. Pre-retrofit EnerGuide home evaluation

Transcript

You’ve decided you’d like to make retrofits to your home to make it more comfortable, resilient, and energy efficient.

There are a number of eligible retrofits through the Canada Greener Homes Grant you might like to consider.

Energy advisors play an important role in the Grant process: they conduct an EnerGuide home evaluation before your retrofits and assess your home from attic to foundation.

Their report will help you understand how your home energy is used and prioritize retrofits with the most benefit for your home.

After you’ve completed your retrofits, they’ll return to measure the difference in energy efficiency you’ve achieved.

Your house is a system. All the parts work together.

The building envelope is an important part of that system—it keeps out extreme temperatures, moisture, dust, and wind. It includes all building components that separate the indoors from the outdoors: exterior walls, foundation, roof, windows, and doors. First, improving the building envelope is your most important task; it will last a long time and make your house much more energy efficient… not to mention more comfortable!

Next you can turn your attention to mechanical systems like those for heating, cooling, ventilation, and water heating.

You might want to consider installing solar panels, and consider resiliency measures.

Heat is easily lost in empty spaces in exterior walls. Insulation’s job is to divide that space into many small pockets of still air, which reduces heat transfer between the inside and the outside.

Insulation is rated by how well it resists the heat flow and is given an R-value. The higher the number, the better it insulates. To increase your home’s efficiency, you can add insulation to the roof, exterior wall, exposed floor, basement, and crawl space. You can also ensure that the entire building envelope is insulated without any rooms or areas left without insulation.

You can also replace your windows and doors with ENERGY STAR® certified models and make sure they are eligible for the grant. Professional window and door installers will apply insulating foam and caulking which will also reduce drafts and noise. These measures can lead to a reduction in drafts, as well as increasing heat retention and comfort.

Driven by electricity, a heat pump extracts heat from outside and delivers it inside the home.

The technology has similarities to how a fridge or air conditioner works. In summer it’s reversed so your home is cooled instead. Heat pumps have lower carbon emissions and can have lower running costs than other heating systems like fuel-fired furnaces. A number of heat pumps that extract heat from the air or ground, as well as heat pump water heaters, are eligible for the Grant. Speak to your energy advisor to determine if a heat pump is a good option for your home.

Solar panels collect sunlight and convert it into electric current. Installing solar panels can save money and reduce green house gas emissions.

Homeowners have always had to take steps to weather any natural disasters that may come. These are different depending on where you live—your risks could include flooding, hurricanes, ice storms, wildfires, and power outages. Climate change has now made these even more common.

As you plan your retrofits, consider these possibilities and how you might mitigate them.

For example, batteries connected to a solar system can be helpful during extended power outages. Or basement wall waterproofing can help keep your home impervious to water in storms.

Since your house functions as a system and all the parts work together, doing multiple retrofits enhances the effects of each one. This is the best way to maximize energy savings and increase the comfort of your home.

The Canada Greener Homes Loan offers interest-free financing in addition to the Grant

to help you complete some of the more major retrofits recommended by your energy advisor.

Once you’ve completed your retrofits, it’s time to enjoy the comfort of your greener home

and the peace of mind in knowing that you’re saving money and energy, while reducing your impact on climate change.

To get helpful, in-depth information on all the eligible retrofits or to learn more about the Canada Greener Homes Initiative visit Canada.ca/greener-homes-initiative

This is a mandatory step before you start your retrofits.
An energy advisor performs the pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation, which measures the energy efficiency of your home. The energy advisor is registered with Natural Resources Canada and is a representative of the service organization you select when you apply through the Canada Greener Homes portal.

Step 2B. (optional) Interest-free loan

Once you have received your pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation and decided which retrofits you would like to do, you can apply for a loan. The loan will help cover the cost of retrofits that are both eligible and recommended by your energy advisor.

To apply for the loan, you must provide at least one cost estimate for the retrofits.

You are not eligible for a loan if you have already started or completed the retrofits.

Note: You will receive the loan only after the completed work has been verified through a post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation.

Step 3. Retrofit your home

After the pre-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation is complete, you will need to review the recommendations and decide which retrofits work best for your budget and renovation plans.

Step 4. Post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation

You must book a post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation, and submit the required documents online or by mail. Once the post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation is complete, your new EnerGuide label will show you how much more energy-efficient your home has become.

Step 5. Request and receive your grant

You will receive an email asking you to confirm your total grant amount, which will help you cover part of your retrofits cost. After you confirm, you will receive a cheque for the grant by mail within the 30 business days.

Canada Greener Homes Initiative

  • Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program: grants up-to-$10,000 (regardless of province), or up-to-$15,000 in participating provinces, plus a $250 bonus (in participating provinces only), to switch from oil heating to an eligible heat pump.
  • Canada Greener Homes Grant (for existing applicants): grants-up- to-$5,000 to get part of your costs back for eligible home retrofits, plus up to $600 additional grant toward the total costs of your pre and post retrofit EnerGuide home evaluations.
  • Canada Greener Homes Loan: up to $40,000, interest-free with a repayment term of 10 years.
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