May 29, 2021
The Federal Government recently launched the $2.6 Billion, 7 year, Greener Homes program. It provides up to $5,000 per home to complete energy upgrades.
Retroactive to December 1, 2020, the new initiative will offer grants of up to $5,000 to help Canadian homeowners make energy efficiency retrofits to their primary residences. To qualify, homeowners must obtain a pre-retrofit EnerGuide home energy evaluation before completing at least one retrofit that is both eligible and recommended by their energy advisor in their report.
In Nova Scotia, the Canada Greener Homes Grant will be co-delivered with Efficiency Nova Scotia’s Home Energy Assessment program. This means anyone who enrolls in the Home Energy Assessment (HEA) program will automatically be registered for the federal grant.
A home energy audit can be booked by contacting one of the qualified service organizations listed here: Home Energy Assessment Nova Scotia | Home Energy Rebates (efficiencyns.ca) The cost in Nova Scotia is $99 and that will be reimbursed to the homeowner.
The Federal rebates are fully stackable with existing Efficiency Nova Scotia rebates with the exception of solar energy rebates. Homeowners interested in going solar will have to decide whether to apply for the SolarHomes Program of the Greener Homes Incentive.
The SolarHomes Program does not require an energy audit and provides a rebate of $0.60/Watt of installed solar capacity up to $6,000. Apply here: Solar Power for Home | Nova Scotia Solar Energy Rebates (efficiencyns.ca)
The Greener Homes Program requires an energy audit and will provide a solar rebate of $1/Watt up to $5,000.
Existing Efficiency Nova Scotia rebate amounts can be found here: https://ens-efficiency-ns-prod-offload-647701102377-ca-central-1.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/09210533/HEA-Rebate-Guide-Dec-2020.pdf
New Federal Greener Homes rebates amounts can be found here: Eligible grants for my home retrofit (nrcan.gc.ca)
Rebates can be paired with the upcoming, 5-year, $40,000 federal interest free loan being administered by CMHC. Full details of the loan are expected soon. You can sign up for updates here: Canada Greener Homes | CMHC (cmhc-schl.gc.ca)