The buildings sector is the third-largest source of emissions in Canada, which is why the Canada Green Buildings Strategy will be critical to achieving Canada’s climate targets, creating more climate-resilient buildings and supporting jobs in many sectors across the country. An effective strategy includes the development of strong building codes across Canada.
On January 24, the Ministry of Natural Resources (NRCan), announced a call for proposals for the Codes Acceleration Fund. The fund will support provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous governments and stakeholders in adopting and enforcing the codes needed to fight climate change and improve resiliency from coast to coast to coast.
To decarbonize the buildings sector, Canada is proactively working with partners to adopt national model building and energy codes. The Codes Acceleration Fund will support actions that will help to urgently accelerate the adoption of and compliance with the higher-performance tiers set out in the 2020 edition of the National Building Code, National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings or other high-performance codes, including net-zero emissions codes.
“This fund will support our partner jurisdictions and others in advancing stronger building codes to improve resiliency and efficiency. Whether it is the Greener Homes program, investments in residential heat pumps or strengthened building codes, the Government of Canada is supporting the decarbonization of our buildings stock while creating jobs for Canadians,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources.
The Codes Acceleration Fund has three objectives:
- To accelerate the adoption and implementation of the highest feasible energy-performance tiers of the national model energy codes or other high-performance building codes, such as net-zero emissions codes;
- To promote higher rates of compliance with adopted codes; and
- To build capacity and support market preparedness for ambitious code adoption.
A total of $100 million is available and will cover two streams:
- Stream 1: Support for jurisdictions that have the authority to adopt energy codes.
- For provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous governments and communities with the authority to adopt energy codes, this funding will support them in accelerating code adoption and addressing gaps in code compliance and enforcement.
- Stream 2: Support for organizations that do not have the authority to adopt energy codes, but play an important role in accelerating their adoption.
- This funding will support these organizations to develop capacity-building projects that contribute to code adoption, compliance, and/or enforcement. This group includes for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and jurisdictions that do not have the authority to adopt codes.
“By improving our building codes in every region, we are ensuring that Canadians will have access to more efficient and resilient places to live, work and play. The transformation of our buildings stock also provides a generational opportunity for good paying jobs across the sustainable materials supply chain and through retrofitting initiatives,” said Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Through the Codes Acceleration Fund, the federal government is committed to supporting the timely adoption of these codes in line with Canada’s ambitious emissions-reduction targets. For more information, please visit: Codes Acceleration Fund.
The call for proposals will remain open until March 27, 2023. Applications from Indigenous governments and organizations will be accepted on an ongoing basis until March 31, 2025.
The application guide can be accessed at the following link: Application guide
Featured image credit: Vancouver Convention Centre (LEED certified building – Platinum)
