Policy Recommendations for Deep Energy Retrofits

The Government of Canada recently released a strengthened climate plan outlining various measures to advance the uptake of residential retrofits. This research aimed to evaluate these measures through a review of academic and grey literature and interviews with green building professionals. Additionally, this research aimed to provide recommendations to the Government of Canada to advance the uptake of residential retrofits. Interview and literature data suggest a more hands-on approach is needed if greenhouse gas emissions in residential buildings are to be lowered. Expensive financing and a complex customer journey remain two of the most substantial barriers to deep energy retrofits. To overcome these barriers, I recommend creating a Crown corporation mandated to deep energy retrofit all residential buildings in Canada with work beginning in social housing and financed through progressive taxation. In this report, I present this work through a Major Research Paper and through a policy brief.