Western University, McMaster University and York University are receiving $9 million in federal funding to tackle carbon emissions across their campuses.

Western will receive $4,745,000 for a four-year project to replace natural gas boilers with electric steam boilers. “We are so grateful for this funding, which will ensure that Western has a resilient and upgraded heating system, and will help us meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets at the same time,” said Andrew Konowalchuk, associate vice-president of facilities management. “This is a system-wide, impactful project that is a huge step forward in our commitment to reduce emissions on campus by 45 percent by 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.”

McMaster is getting $2,087,600 for the same purpose as it sets out to decarbonize its campus operations, while York will receive $2,080,000 to upgrade its energy management system to make its heating and cooling more energy efficient.

The funding comes from pollution pricing proceeds via Canada’s new Decarbonization Incentive Program, which supports projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions through commercially available and/or proven low-carbon technologies. These new university projects are projected to cumulatively cut more than 35,000 tonnes of emissions in 2030.