Shifting Ground for Geothermal Heat Pumps in Canada

Government and utility support for geothermal heat pumps has been running a bit hot and cold over the past several years in Canada, with exciting programs like GreenON (in the Province of Ontario) showing great promise, only to be cut short of their full potential due to a change in government.

At the federal government level there has been modest progress with the introduction of Greener Homes in 2021, which has offered rebates of up to $5,600 and interest-free loans up to $40,000 towards home energy retrofits, including heat pump conversions. In many provinces, these rebates have been beefed up by local program partners. Though ground source heat pumps are included in the program, they were not treated differently than air source, despite their greater potential to save energy and carbon emissions (with significantly less peaking impact on power grids). HRAI has advocated that GSHPs should qualify for more substantial incentives.

More recently, the federal government announced the extension of Clean Technology Investment Tax Credits to include investments in ground source and air source heat pumps in commercial applications. This tax measure mimics the approach taken in the US and has been welcomed by the commercial HVACR contracting sector. While the needed legislation has not been enacted yet, once it is, the credit will be retro-active to March 2023.

Meanwhile the government has been consulting with industry and other stakeholders since mid-2022 on the development of its “Green Building Strategy.” The need for a more comprehensive strategy came out of a realization that, in the buildings sector at least, Canada is retrofitting (decarbonizing) buildings at a rate less than a third of what will be needed to meet the country’s ambitious carbon reduction goals.

HRAI and its industry allies have been engaged with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) in the development of the Green Buildings Strategy, and there are some signs that NRCan has been listening to industry inputs, but details of the plan will remain unclear until it is fully introduced, and the timing of its launch has been delayed several times.

On November 9th, however, it was announced that the Greener Homes program will be wound down in 2024, an announcement that surprised many. At the same time, the government stated that it intends to follow this announcement with another in a few weeks about the Green Buildings Strategy, and the expectation is that this platform will bring new programs that will keep the industry focus on decarbonization. (At time of this writing, the announcement has not been made.)

As a result of federal and provincial supports for heat pumps, there has been a lot of media talk about the technology and its benefits, and, slowly but surely, awareness levels and market acceptance are rising. See for example, recent coverage by the CBC (click HERE).

HRAI and other groups are telling both governments and the industry that, in order to prepare for the next wave of program support for ground source heat pumps, training of technicians and other personnel will be essential. HRAI continues to be the reliable IGSHPA training partner in Canada, offering training for both installers and designers. Together, HRAI and IGSHPA are leading the way!

Martin Luymes, bio to come