Federal progress on climate now requires matching ambition from provinces and industry
Budget 2024 supports efficient and affordable housing, transportation, clean energy tax credits, and Indigenous loan guarantees
Source: | · PEMBINA INSTITUTE · | April 16, 2024
Source: The national, provincial and territorial flags of Canada. Photo: iStock.
OTTAWA — Scott MacDougall, Director of the Electricity program at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the 2024 Federal Budget:
“Budget 2024 is a step forward from the federal government toward a clean energy future. The Pembina Institute is pleased to see progress in housing, transportation, important clean energy investment tax credits, and the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program.
But the federal government cannot do this alone. It's time for all the provinces, territories, as well as industry to invest in the clean economy, which will deliver affordable energy, create good jobs, and advance reconciliation, while addressing climate change.
The Pembina Institute applauds the continued efforts to increase the national housing supply, however all new construction must be both affordable and climate resilient. The requirement for provinces to adopt upcoming changes to the National Building Code to access the $5 billion in the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund will assist in moving this in the right direction.
In the lead-up to this budget, we were pleased to see the federal government tackle the accessibility and affordability of housing. One of the major barriers to affordability remains the mounting cost of heating and cooling our homes. The previously announced $903.5 million investment in the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program will assist in addressing both affordability and climate change, but there is much more to be done. We estimate it will take an average annual investment of $2.8 billion from 2025 to 2050 from the federal and provincial governments and utilities to adequately support retrofits for low-income households experiencing energy poverty and sufficiently advance the national retrofit market.
Budget 2024 helps move Canada toward a net-zero electricity supply by 2035 by announcing further details of the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit. This will eventually facilitate urgently needed investment in a modernized, well-connected grid based on renewables and other low-carbon, low-cost forms of generation, supported by a suite of energy storage and transmission infrastructure. We are pleased to see the expectation that provinces or territories publicly align with net-zero electricity targets in order for their crown corporations to receive the investment tax credit.