Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has
announced an investment of $103.7 million to help British Columbians switch to heat pumps from oil and other fossil fuel furnaces, stating that this initiative will reduce home energy costs.
The funding will be sourced from Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund (LCEF) and the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) program, with an additional $151 million contribution from the B.C. provincial government.
Households with low and middle incomes will be eligible for a rebate of up to $16,000 to transition from oil to high-efficiency pumps under the OHPA program. The LCEF will also offer rebates to those with natural gas and propane heaters.
The updated rebate, increased from the
previous $10,000 rebate, will allow B.C. to become the first province outside of Atlantic Canada to benefit from the enhanced grant.
Additionally, eligible households in northern B.C. may receive an extra $3,000 for the installation of new heat pumps. Homes needing an upgrade from an electric heater could qualify for up to $5,000.
Qualified low and middle-income households could receive rebates of up to $24,000 for the heat pumps and installation. Those switching from oil heating to electric may also receive a one-time upfront payment of $250.
The Ministry of the Environment states that households switching to electric heating could save up to 80 percent compared to using fossil fuels.
Energy company Fortis, operating in B.C., reports that heating oil can cost households in the northern interior of the province as much as
$6,715 per year.
The OHPA grant was
initially announced in 2022 with $250 million in federal funding. However, as of November last year, only
43 new installations had been completed since its official launch in 2023.
Just a month before, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had
announced a three-year pause on the carbon tax for heating oil in the Atlantic provinces and raised the subsidy from $10,000 to $15,000 for homeowners switching away from oil heating.
The federal government indicates that around 1.1 million homes across Canada use oil for heating during the colder months, with a concentration in Atlantic Canada.
Initially budgeted at $750 million, estimates released earlier this year by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO)
suggest that as many as 244,000 households could be eligible for the grant, with potential costs reaching $2.7 billion.
Premier David Eby’s call for the federal government to grant B.C. relief from the carbon tax on home heating led to the new investment. Eby argued that it was unfair for Atlantic provinces to receive a tax pause while B.C. did not, due to the province collecting its own fuel tax.
With an upcoming election in B.C., where the provincial Conservatives are gaining support, the NDP, led by Mr. Eby, face a challenging political landscape. The B.C. Conservatives have pledged in their
platform to eliminate the provincial carbon tax, citing unfairness to rural and northern communities and job offshoring.
A recent poll by Leger indicates that British Columbians are increasingly against the carbon tax, with
73 percent urging Mr. Eby to oppose any carbon tax increase, which occurred in April.
