B.C. resident out of pocket hundreds of dollars after applying for Canada Greener Homes Grant

A B.C. woman says she’s out of pocket hundreds of dollars after she applied for the Canada Greener Homes Grant only to be told she didn’t qualify.

“In the end I got nothing,” Suzanne McPherson told Consumer Matters.

The Nelson, B.C. resident lives in a townhouse and wanted to invest in a heat pump for its cooling system, especially during the summer months.

“I know every summer here we just bake. The top floor just absolutely bakes,” said McPherson.

McPherson says she started the grant process by going online to the federal Canada Greener Homes Grant website, which boasts homeowners can receive up to $5,000 to help them make energy efficiency upgrades to their home if they qualify.

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McPherson says she answered all the questions online where it was determined she might be a good candidate for the grant. Her next step was to get what’s called an EnerGuide home evaluation to assess her 1800-square-foot home’s energy performance.

That step ended up costing McPherson just a little over $500. “When I got the report it recommended one heat pump,” said McPherson.

However, McPherson says that only needing one heat pump and a 9,000 BTU unit for her townhome made her ineligible for the Greener Homes Grant.

It also meant she couldn’t recoup the $504 she spent on the EnerGuide evaluation. McPherson contacted her local MP relaying her concerns to the Ministry of Natural Resources – the federal department in charge of the Canada Greener Homes Grant.

Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister of Natural Resources, wrote back stating: “…the program’s eligibility criteria require that heat pump systems have a minimum capacity requirement of 12,000 British thermal units per hour (which is suitable for small dwellings), and that a minimum of two heads be installed with a ductless mini-split system. This is to maximize energy efficiency while also ensuring sufficient heat distribution to the house. Unfortunately, your constituent’s partial heat pump system does not meet the eligibility criteria and is therefore ineligible for federal funding.”

In a statement to Global News Friday, Natural Resources Canada said that “townhouses are eligible property types for grant funding under the initiative. Homes, regardless of size, are eligible for a grant provided they are an eligible property type.”

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However, McPherson says most of her strata complex are side-by-side townhouses and none of those were eligible for a Canada Greener Homes Grant either when it came to installing heat pumps. She says the program discriminates against people living in smaller dwellings.

“They need to widen the net in reality and just change the criteria to meet the needs of smaller homes,” she said.

The Pembina Institute, a charity-based clean energy think tank, says the government needs to do a better job at helping consumers navigate through green energy incentive programs.

“Government really needs to provide owners the clarity and essentially hold their hands throughout the retrofit process which includes navigating things like incentive programs and that help is needed by all types of owners determining what types of incentives are right for their homes and what upgrades are right,” said Betsy Agar, director of the Pembina Institute’s buildings program.

Despite not qualifying for the Canada Greener Homes Grant, McPherson went ahead and purchased a heat pump with a final cost of over $7,000.