Home Improvement Grants - ecoENERGY Retrofit
Grants for Residential Property Owners: ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes is available to owners of single family homes including detached, semi-detached and low rise multi-unit residential buildings. Property owners can qualify for federal grants by improving the energy efficiency of their homes, and reducing their home’s impact on the environment. The maximum grant one can receive per home or multi-unit residential building is $5,000; whereas the total grant amount available to one individual or entity for eligible properties over the life of the program is $500,000.
Who is eligible for grants?
For full details on eligibility, consult your local NRCan-licensed service organization or click here to visit the Goverment of Canada’s website for more information.
Here are the main criteria:
You can apply for a grant for a property that you own and live in or rent out. This includes detached, semi-detached and row houses and low-rise residential buildings of three storeys or less (with a footprint of less than 600 square metres), as well as mobile homes on a permanent foundation.
Grants are available for work done within a specific time frame, so it is important to talk to your local service organization about the eligibility of your house as soon as you are ready to plan and undertake your energy efficiency retrofits. You have 18 months from the date of your pre-retrofit evaluation to complete the work and qualify for a grant.
Only homes that have undergone a pre- and post-retrofit residential energy assessment service by an NRCan-licensed advisor will be eligible. You will be able to apply only once per property.
Homeowners must carry out specific improvements in order to qualify for a grant. NRCan-licensed energy advisors will be able to tell you which retrofits have the greatest impact on your home’s efficiency. The greater the improvement, the more the grant will be.
It is you – the property owner – who decides what retrofits recommended by your energy advisor you wish to undertake. You are responsible for choosing a contractor and for ensuring that the work is performed properly. It is important that you get a detailed written contract between you and your contractor in order to prevent problems later on. The residential energy assessment service does not assess the quality of the work performed – it evaluates only the retrofit’s impact on the energy efficiency of your home.
How do you apply for a grant?
It’s easy. Your energy advisor will apply for the grant on your behalf after you have completed the energy efficiency retrofits and your home has been re-assessed. Your advisor will prepare the paperwork for you to sign and will be able to tell you exactly how much you can expect to receive. Your energy advisor will then forward your application to NRCan.
A table of retrofits has been established to show the payment for the completion of each recommended upgrade. The grant amount has been determined by the relative effectiveness of that particular upgrade in reducing energy or water use, and not directly on the cost of the upgrade, which will vary depending on location, local pricing and labour costs, size of house, etc. Note: Refer to Retrofit Your Home and Qualify for a Grant! for grant amounts related to retrofits.
A grant application must be submitted to NRCan no later than 18 months after the date of the pre-retrofit evaluation. You can expect to receive your cheque within 90 days of your follow-up evaluation.
Click here to visit the Goverment of Canada’s website for more information.