The Canada Greener Homes Grant Gives You Financing Options for Green Home Improvements
Did you know that 39,000 Canadians have applied for the Canada Greener Home Grant in 2022 alone? And that’s just a small fraction of the number of total applicants since the grant’s inception — a whooping 171,000 applicants since May 2021 who received nearly $39M in grant money.
If that tells you anything, it’s that there is a desire in Canada for homeowners to make their home more energy-efficient.
This has dual benefits — both for the environment, and for the savings in Canadians pockets when running an efficient home!
This article will fuel your understanding of the Canada Greener Home Grant, break down what you can spend the grant money on, and inspire you to get applying!
Browse this content:
- Quick Overview: What is the Canada Greener Homes Program?
- Step by Step Guide: How Does the Process Work?
- Get Green Windows for the Canada Greener Homes Grant
- Magic Windows Exceed All Energy Star’s Requirements & Are Eligible for The Canada Greener Homes Grant
Quick Overview: What is the Canada Greener Homes Program?
What is the Canada Greener Homes Grant?
The Canada Greener Homes Grant provides eligible homeowners with:
- Grants of up to $5,000 to pay for home upgrades that will improve the energy efficiency of their homes
- Up to $600 to pay for home energy evaluations to help plan retrofits
What is the Canada Greener Homes Loan?
If you’re looking at a bigger project, you may want to consider looking at the Canada Greener Homes Loan. This ranges from $5,000 – $40,000, and is to be paid back over 10 years, interest free.
You can apply the same way you apply for your Canada Greener Homes Grant — if you’re eligible for the grant, you can also apply for the loan.
Who Is Eligible?
All homeowners in Canada are eligible to apply for the Canada Greener Homes Grant, provided they can show:
- Valid proof of ownership of the residence
- That the property is their primary residence
Types of residences that are eligible:
- Single and semi-detached houses
- Row housing
- Townhomes
- All-season cottages
- Mobile homes on a permanent foundation
- Permanently-moored floating homes
- Mixed-use buildings (residential portion only)
- Small multi-unit residential building (three storeys or less with a footprint of 600m or less)
Find notes, additional requirements, and exclusions here.
What are the Requirements?
There are four requirements that are expected of homeowners who want to take advantage of the Greener Homes Grant.
- A pre-and post-retrofit home energy evaluation by a certified EnerGuide representative
- Complete at least one eligible home energy retrofit that was recommended during the pre-retrofit evaluation
- Any products must be purchased in Canada
- Retain and provide all copies of the relevant documents until March 31, 2028
For all the details, click here.
Step by Step Guide: How Does the Process Work?
There are just seven simple steps to getting the Canada Greener Home Grant.
Step 1: Determine Your Eligibility
First things first – confirm if you are eligible. Take this Canada Greener Homes Grant pre-evaluation quiz. This tool has been recently added to make the process even easier for applicants. It will ask you a few questions about your home and help you understand where you are in the process.
TAKE QUIZ
Step 2: Apply
Next up: head over to the Canada Greener Homes Grant portal to start your application. Here, you will have to submit your eligibility criteria and select a government-approved organization to perform the “EnerGuide evaluation”. Browse the list of registered organizations here.
APPLY NOW
Step 3: Pre-Retrofit EnerGuide Evaluation
An energy advisor from the organization you’ve selected will then come to your home at the scheduled time to do a mandatory pre-retrofit – where they will evaluate the energy efficiency of your home.
Over the past two years, the Green Homes Grant program has improved access to energy advisors, making it even easier to book an evaluation when outside a major city hub. Advisors have officially gone coast to coast in Canada — from British Columbia to Newfoundland, to the Territories up north, and everywhere in between.
BOOK PRE-RETROFIT
Step 4. Retrofit Your Home
The pre-retrofit evaluation will leave you with a few recommended home upgrade options. Review these recommendations and decide what to proceed with based on your budget and renovation plans.
Replacing your windows or sliding glass doors is an excellent way to improve your home & claim some savings through the Greener Homes Grant. Aging, faulty, leaky, improperly sealed windows can be a major source of unnecessary heat loss, high home energy consumption, and cold drafts and can be subject to condensation problems. In fact, windows can account for up to 25% of the total heat loss for a home!
SHOP FOR GREEN-APPROVED WINDOWS
Step 5. Post-Retrofit EnerGuide Evaluation
Once your home improvement has been made (e.g. once your new windows have been installed) you can book a post-retrofit evaluation. At the scheduled appointment, the advisor will confirm which retrofits were undertaken and provide an estimate of the grant amount you may be eligible for.
BOOK POST-RETROFIT
Step 6. Request Your Grant
After your post-retrofit appointment, upload any receipts and documents as proof at the Canada Greener Homes online portal or mail it. At this point, you can also request your reimbursement of:
- Up to $5,000 for the completion of a home energy improvement project – retroactive December 1st, 2020.
- Up to $600 for the cost of the pre- and post-retrofit home energy evaluation – retroactive to December 1st, 2020.
Step 7. Receive Your Grant
After completing everything, you’ll receive an email where you confirm the grant amount that covers part of the costs. Once confirmed, you can expect a cheque by mail within 30 days!
*It’s important to note that homeowners will not receive reimbursement for their home energy evaluations unless they complete the entire process with both pre and post evaluations.
Get Green Windows for the Canada Greener Homes Grant
Not only do new windows increase the curb appeal and overall look of your home, they can provide incredible energy efficiency when done right.
To be covered by the Canada Greener Homes Grant, any replacement windows or sliding glass doors must meet their eligibility requirements:
- All equipment must be purchased in Canada. Online purchases must be ordered from a Canadian distributor
- The ENERGY STAR® label must remain on your windows until after the post-retrofit evaluation.
- The program favours total window and frame replacements. Inserting a new window unit into an existing frame is eligible under the terms and conditions of the Greener Homes Grant, but replacing only the glass, sash, or door without a frame is not.
- The Greener Homes Grant will cover a maximum of $250 per rough opening, up to a total of $5000.
So which window and door products would be eligible? Well, they would need to fall into the following ENERGY STAR® categories:
1) ENERGY STAR® Most Efficient Window and Sliding Door Units:
- Must have a U-factor of 1.05 or less OR an Energy Rating ≥ 40
- $250 will be covered per rough opening
2) ENERGY STAR® Certified Window and Sliding Door Units:
- Must have a U-factor of 1.22 or less OR an Energy Rating ≥ 34
- $125 will be covered per rough opening
3) ENERGY STAR® Certified Hinged Doors With or Without Sidelites or Transoms:
- Must have a U-factor of 1.22 or less OR an Energy Rating ≥ 34
- $125 will be covered per rough opening
Definitions:
U-Factor: Rate of heat loss through a window.
Energy Rating: The overall energy rating that takes many factors into consideration
All of this can be a lot to wrap your head around. So if you want to learn more about energy efficiency ratings in windows, read our dedicated guide here. Or if you’re ready to browse window products that exceed all of Energy Star’s requirements, just keep reading.
Magic Windows Exceed All Energy Star’s Requirements & Are Eligible for The Canada Greener Homes Grant
About us
Here at Magic, we specialize in the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of energy-efficient replacement windows.
Our window and door units are certified by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) — the authoritative, industry body that evaluates windows according to standardized ratings. You can find our NFRC ratings by visiting their directory and searching “CTW”.
Not only are we an Energy Star Partner, but our products exceed all of Energy Star’s requirements, meaning that our windows can significantly improve a home’s sustainability.
Energy Efficient, Eligible Options
Windows
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Patio Doors
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Window Wall
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You Can Rest Assured Your Project is Going to Be Done Right
- We have completed over 50,000 installations in Southern Ontario
- We won the 2021 Window + Door Magazine Award for the Most Innovative Patio, Multi-Slide or Multi-Panel Door
- We’ve been named the Best Window and Door Company in the GTA by Toronto Star readers in three consecutive years
- We’ve won a Homestars “Best of” Award
- We’ve accrued an average 4.7 star rating from over 1,300 online customer reviews.
Learn more about our unique approach to windows here.
We know this is a lot of information to digest! So let us help you through this entire process with ease. Book a completely free consultation with one of our representatives and they will walk you through the window replacement process, explain the key features behind our energy-efficient units, and break down how they are an ideal way to take advantage of the Greener Homes Grant Program.