Today the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, announced that the Government of Canada would provide over $1 billion from the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund over the next five years to the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

The Low Carbon Economy Fund is an important investment under Canada’s clean growth and climate plan, which will help Canada hit its 2030 Paris Agreement target.

The fund has two components:

• a $1.4 billion Leadership Fund, which will help provinces and territories deliver on their commitments to reduce carbon pollution as part of Canada’s climate plan, and

• the Low-Carbon Economy Challenge, which will support ambitious projects that can be submitted by all provinces and territories, as well as municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations.

Building on the priorities they identified in Canada’s clean growth and climate plan, provinces and territories have proposed concrete actions for Leadership Fund investments that will reduce carbon pollution and spur clean growth. Provinces estimate that the projects included in today’s announcement could create up to 40,000 new jobs in fields like construction, other skilled trades, and engineering.

Provinces and territories become eligible to receive Leadership Fund dollars when they adopt Canada’s clean growth and climate plan. That’s the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

The federal government will launch the Low Carbon Economy Challenge in 2018.

“Energy efficiency is a win-win – it helps Canadians save money and it cuts carbon pollution. I’m thrilled that we’re working in partnership with six provinces today to invest in energy efficiency in homes, commercial buildings, and on farms.”

– Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Quick Facts

• Every dollar spent on energy efficiency programs generates between four and eight dollars of GDP.

• Energy efficiency in Canada improved by 25% between 1990 and 2014. This improvement helped avoid more than 85 million tonnes of carbon pollution and saved Canadians more than $38 billion.

• To further support the implementation of Canada’s climate plan, its Government is investing $21.9 billion in green infrastructure. Investments will be made in priorities such as clean electricity grid interconnections. That’s in addition to electric vehicle charging stations and projects to safely manage wastewater.

• The Leadership Fund is projected to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas pollution by over 3 million tonnes in 2030. That’s equivalent to taking nearly a million cars off the road that year. This is equivalent to the emission reductions we expect to generate from adopting stronger building codes by 2030.

• The Leadership Fund will make homes and buildings more efficient, comfortable and affordable to run. It will also help companies innovate and access technologies. Not to mention help the forest and agriculture sectors enhance stored carbon in forests and soils.