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The Canada Green Buildings Strategy (CGBS) is a comprehensive plan unveiled by the Canadian government in July 2024 to decarbonize buildings by 2050. This strategy aims to improve energy efficiency in homes and buildings across Canada, focusing on addressing affordability, the housing crisis, and climate change.
Key Objectives
The CGBS has several main goals:
- Make all buildings in Canada net-zero and climate-resilient by 2050.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector, which is Canada’s third-largest emitting sector.
- Help Canadians save money on energy bills through green upgrades.
- Create good jobs in the green economy.
- Retrofit approximately 10 million existing buildings and construct millions of new net-zero buildings in the coming decades.
Major Components
The strategy includes several key initiatives:
- Energy Efficiency Act Modernization: This aims to accelerate building decarbonization, reduce energy costs, and create jobs.
- Phase-out of Oil Heating Systems: A regulatory framework to eliminate oil heating systems in new construction starting in 2028.
- Adoption of Heat Pumps: Prioritizing efficient cooling and heating solutions.
- Buy Clean Measures: Promoting low-carbon materials in public infrastructure to reduce embodied carbon in federal investments.
- Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program (CGHAP): An $800 million program to help low- to median-income Canadians make energy-efficient home improvements2.
Implementation and Challenges
The CGBS recognizes that successful implementation requires collaboration between the federal government, provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities. The strategy aims to retrofit existing buildings at a rate of around 3% per year. While the CGBS provides a vision for greener, more energy-efficient buildings, some industry stakeholders note that it falls short of providing a comprehensive roadmap with clear regulatory pathways and new public investments. The success of the strategy will depend on continued efforts from all levels of government and industry participation.