The buildings sector is tapped to be the flow-through recipient of more than $706 million in federal funding for net-zero capacity building over the next five years. The newly released 2022 budget allocates funds for research, policy development, pilot projects, preparatory studies and design work, which are to be coordinated through Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the National Research Council (NRC).

“To achieve Canada’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, the scale and pace of retrofitting buildings in Canada must increase,” the budget document affirms. “To this end, the federal government will develop a national net-zero by 2050 buildings strategy, working with provinces, territories and other partners to accelerate both retrofits of existing buildings, and the construction of buildings to the highest zero-carbon standards.”

NRCan will oversee the bulk of announced initiatives, which include:

• $150 million over five years towards a Canada Green Buildings Strategy to: speed up the development and adoption of performance-based building codes; promote lower-carbon construction materials; and to improve climate resilience of existing buildings;
• $200 million over five years to launch a Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative, underwriting audits and project management for large projects that can deliver extensive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. Affordable housing for low-income residents will be a primary focus;
• $33 million over five years to roll out a pilot project based on the Netherlands’ Energiesprong approach to neighborhood-wide retrofits, leveraging scale to lower unit cost, shave construction timelines and spur innovation. Up to six neighbourhoods across Canada are expected to participate;
• $194 million over five years to expand the existing Industrial Energy Management System program, providing support for ISO 50001 certification, energy managers, cohort-based training, audits and energy efficiency focused retrofits for small-to-moderate projects, and;
• $2.2 million over five years to continue studies aligned with the federal government’s objective to convert its operational fleet to zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV). NRCan is tasked with assessing federal buildings’ readiness to accommodate a ZEV fleet.

The National Research Council’s $127-million share of the newly announced federal funding will be channelled to research and development of innovative construction materials and the development of new standards to encourage low-carbon construction processes. Beyond the five-year horizon, further funds are pledged for a total budget allocation of $183 million to 2028-29.

The budget also announces a pending new tax credit to provide investors with rebates of up to 30 per cent on qualifying investments in net-zero technologies, battery-based energy storage and clean hydrogen. Further details are to be released in the 2022 fall economic and fiscal update later this year.

That complements the budget’s other strategies to better harness private capital to drive low-carbon economic activities, including:

• $15 billion dollars in seed funding over the next five years for the new Canada Growth Fund with the aim of drawing three times that amount in private capital;
• $1 billion over five years to establish a new arm’s length Innovation and Investment Agency to work with Canadian businesses;
• and broadening the mandate of the Canada Infrastructure Bank to invest in private-led projects related to small modular reactors, clean fuel production, hydrogen production, transportation and distribution, and carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS).

Further details about the new growth fund and innovation agency are promised for the fall economic fiscal update.

“In Canada, and around the world, climate action is no longer a matter of political debate or personal conviction. It is an existential challenge. That means it is also an economic necessity,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland asserted in her budget address. “This is the most profound economic transition since the industrial revolution. The world economy is going green. Canada can be in the vanguard or we can be left behind.”