Sept. 12, 2008

Liberals unveil major home retrofit program


BURNABY, British Columbia – A new Liberal government will significantly expand federal support to upgrade the energy efficiency of Canadian homes, including an enriched home retrofit program and a new green mortgages program, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced today.

“The average Canadian homeowner can reduce the amount of energy their home uses by 20 to 40 per cent,” said Mr. Dion at a visit to the Pine Ridge Housing Co-operative. “A Liberal government will provide significant incentives to Canadians to help them retrofit their homes to reduce their heating costs and their greenhouse gas emissions.”

A Liberal government will invest $575 million over four years to:

• double direct financial support to $10,000 for any household that invests in energy-saving measures like insulation, weatherproofing and efficient heating systems;

• provide interest-free green mortgage loans of up to $10,000 per household to help Canadians pay for the up-front costs of major energy-saving home retrofits; and

• create a $140-million Low-income Homes Retrofit Partnership Fund to help upgrade low-income housing across Canada – including federally-funded co-operative housing – and reduce energy costs for those least able to pay.

“Our objective is to retrofit 50 per cent of all homes in Canada by 2020 and 100 per cent by 2030 because not only is reducing energy use in Canadians’ homes critical in the fight against global warming, it will also directly benefit Canadian families, who will see their energy bills drop,” said Mr. Dion. “In addition, these incentives will create jobs in an economy that is facing uncertain times.

“These green investments in the economy, taken together with the Green Shift and our commitment to increase the use of green power in Canada, are a critical part of the richer, fairer, greener Canada that the Liberal Party wants to build,” he said.