April 16, 2024 – Partly refinancing programs to get heat pumps and other energy efficiency measures to low- and mid-income households will help families reduce their energy bills and air pollution. But this was a moment to do more, not less. Solving the housing crisis requires long-term thinking, and unless Canada does more to ensure that necessities – like heating – are reliable, affordable, healthy and sustainable, we risk dragging out the housing crisis as well as the climate crisis.

Unfortunately, the new Housing Plan falls short by failing to tie massive financial supports for new housing construction to building homes with modern and efficient electric heating. If the committed funds prop up gas use in homes, we’ll see more damaging pollution and high energy bills. This was a missed opportunity.

Statement from: Stand.earth, Environmental Defence, Dogwood BC, Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement, (AQME, Québec’s chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), and member of the Québec’s coalition Sortons le gaz! (Let’s get out of gas!)), Ecology Action Centre

Media Contacts:
Cari Barcas, Communications Director, Stand.earth, cari.barcas@stand.earth
Chris Benjamin, Senior Energy Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre, 902-414-8780 chris.benjamin@ecologyaction.ca
Tamara Latinovic, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

Additional Quotes:

Lana Goldberg
Climate Campaigner, Stand.earth

“Equipping all new homes and buildings with clean and affordable electric heat pumps is one of the easiest and lowest-cost ways to cut pollution and help meet national climate targets, while ensuring that our homes are healthy and affordable to maintain. Today’s budget could have so easily ensured that new, federally-funded buildings used the latest clean technologies and prevented increased pollution.”

Ashley Zarbatany
Fossil Gas Campaigner, Dogwood BC

“Federal incentives that ensure that all new buildings come equipped with electric heat pumps could go a long way to helping Canadians cut our energy bills and stay safe during extreme heat. We need the government to help us get off of toxic fossil gas in a way that is fair, fast, and affordable – making new builds gas free is the best way to do it.”

Adrian Currie
Ontario Climate Program Manager, Environmental Defence

“This federal budget misses the mark by failing to provide enough funding to help Canadians retrofit their homes and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and their energy costs. Capitalizing the Canada Greener Homes Affordability program at a third of the previous program, is a missed opportunity by this government to address household climate change emissions while tackling the affordability crisis.”

Patricia Clermont
Organizer-coordinator, Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement (AQME, Québec’s chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and of the Québec’s coalition Sortons le gaz! (Let’s get out of gas!))

“With the climate crisis looming large and even accelerating, we need more coherence and concrete action if we are finally to emerge from the era of fossil fuel dominance. For the sake of the climate and the environment, for the potential savings, but also centrally for the environmental health so closely linked to human health, we need effective incentives for people to turn to solutions such as heat pumps. Unfortunately, we have yet to see the necessary shift to get gas out of buildings. What a missed opportunity!”