Ontario green lights energy-efficient home renovation rebates

Some have said that it's not easy being green. In Ontario, it's about to get a lot easier.

Ontario Environment Minister Chris Ballard and Green Ontario Fund (GOF) chair Parminder Sandhu made a joint announcement Wednesday morning at Toronto's MaRS Discovery District, revealing that the province would be sponsoring a new environmentally-friendly rebate program. According to Ballard, this program "will make it easy and more affordable" for homeowners to implement green changes in their dwellings.

"No matter where you live or work in Ontario, fighting climate change can be as easy as changing a light bulb, switching your thermostat or making other home improvements that cut your energy bills," said Ballard in a statement.

The rebates will be worth up to the following amounts:

• $5,000 for specially approved window replacements
• $5,800 for air source heat pumps that are either Energy Star-certified or meet program requirements
• $7,200 for new insulation and $100 for air sealing
• $20,000 for Energy-Star ground source heat pumps, or $4,500 to repair existing ones

Funding will be covered by the the non-profit GOF, which arrives via the province's cap-and-trade program. Homes will only be eligible for rebate consideration if the contractor working on them has been screened by the program and listed at GreenON.ca.

The news got immediate approval from the Ontario Home Buyers Association (OHBA), which tweeted out "OHBA supports the #GreenON rebate, encouraging consumers to complete energy-efficient renos with qualified contractors."

This rebate program will hopefully bring Ontario closer to achieving the ambitious greenhouse gas pledges it has made. By 2020 it is aiming to cut greenhouse gas pollution to 15 per cent below 1990 levels, and then follow that up by reaching 37 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050.