Please note that the Canada Greener Homes Grant has been paused.
Check out our latest article on this announcement and what your next steps are as a homeowner.
Updated on February 6, 2024
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What is on your list of New Year’s Resolutions? While we at ClimateCare hope that it includes upgrading your HVAC system to one that is healthier, more efficient, better for the environment, and future-proof, we will forgive you if it doesn’t make it to the list. But we won’t forgive ourselves if we don’t tell you about an opportunity that may end soon: the Canada Greener Homes Grant.
About the Greener Homes Initiative
In May 2021, the Canadian government launched the Greener Homes Initiative and said it would run for 7 years, or 700,000 homes or $2 billion in grants, whatever came first. Initially, the program consisted of a grant available to homeowners to reduce the carbon footprint of their homes. It included a $5000 grant for purchasing a qualifying heat pump. In 2022 it expanded to include a $40,000 10-year interest-free loan to help finance the upgrades. In January 2023, the program was renamed the Home Efficiency Rebate Plus (or HER+) program in Ontario when Enbridge took over its administration, and the total grant for qualifying residential Enbridge customers became $10,000. That’s a total of $10,000 in grant money and $40,000 in an interest-free loan for qualifying homeowners.
What Happens Next?
There is only one problem. The program has been so successful that it is running out of money faster than expected. The federal government has announced that to qualify for the program, and the current grant amounts, you must take the initial step to register and conduct a pre-retrofit energy assessment before February 29, 2024.
How ClimateCare Can Help!
Since the program launched, ClimateCare member companies have helped thousands of Ontario homeowners take advantage of the program to upgrade their HVAC system by installing a heat pump. If you have central air, adding a heat pump is not much more complicated than replacing your central air conditioner. The box outside is replaced with one that can both heat and cool your home and, in most cases, will be much more efficient than the air conditioner it is replacing. Depending on the age of your furnace, we may recommend replacing it at the same time.
For those who want to reduce their on-site carbon footprint entirely, we have all electric cold-climate air source heat pumps, and several of our ClimateCare members even specialize in ground-source (or geothermal) heat pumps.
Don’t worry if you don’t have central air. The program includes grants for those who install ductless heat pumps too!
Contact Your Local ClimateCare To Book Your Energy Audit Today!
But you have to take the first step now to ensure that you will qualify for the grants that are currently available. Don’t delay. Call your local ClimateCare member company to begin the process now, and you can future-proof your home’s HVAC system before time runs out.
