Ontario Construction News staff writer
Applications are being accepted until June 30 for funding from the new Canada Greener Affordable Housing (CGAH) program. Approved projects will modernize affordable multi-unit residential buildings by making them more energy efficient and affordable to operate, while also extending building lifespans.
More than $1.2 billion in low-interest repayable and forgivable loans will be released over the next four years for deep energy retrofits on residential rental buildings. The program will offer contributions for completing the pre-retrofit activities needed to plan, prepare, and apply for the retrofit funding and will be administered by CMHC.
Click the link for application details.
“Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. That is why today we launched the Canada Greener Affordable Housing (CGAH) program, which will make significant improvements to affordable housing benefiting residents for decades to come,” said Ahmed Hussen, minister of housing and diversity and inclusion.
Funding will allow affordable housing providers to make improvements to aging buildings that will improve energy efficiency and extend their lifespan. In the long-term, this will reduce the operating costs of affordable housing so they can continue to serve low-income households for many years to come. For affordable housing residents, this program will improve indoor air quality, comfort, and quality of life through retrofits which may include updates like the installation of heating and cooling systems, and energy-efficient appliances, windows, and doors.
“CGAH will mean real results for residents, while helping our environment. By launching the CGAH program, the Government of Canada is taking a significant step towards improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions in residential buildings while making them more sustainable, affordable, and comfortable for future generations.”
CGAH has two funding opportunities. The first provides contributions for pre-retrofit activities needed to plan, prepare, and apply for retrofit funding. The second is forgivable and low-interest loans to help finance building retrofit measures and activities needed to meet climate objectives.
Eligible applicants include affordable housing providers (such as social housing organizations, non-profit housing organizations, and rental co-operatives), municipal, provincial, and territorial governments and agencies; and Indigenous governments and organizations (including First Nation Bands, Tribal Councils, and Indigenous housing providers).
To be eligible, applicants must be an affordable housing provider with an affordable housing purpose and a proven mandate to provide housing deemed affordable.
The housing project is considered affordable if it is mandated to follow:
- a municipal, provincial, territorial, Indigenous government, or CMHC program or product affordability criteria; or
- other affordability criteria such as rent-geared-to-income, low-income, moderate-income, established income, or rent limits/thresholds, or other criteria as accepted by CMHC.
CGAH aims to achieve net-zero and climate resilience and contribute to Canada’s Emission Reduction Plan and the forthcoming Green Buildings Strategy (GBS) to help meet net-zero emission by 2050. Specifically, deep energy retrofits under the CGAH program must target:
- a 70% reduction in energy consumption relative to pre-retrofit performance; and
- an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relative to pre-retrofit performance.
For details on the CGAH program, including eligibility criteria and a checklist of what is required to apply, visit: cmhc.ca/CGAH.
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