Energy Efficiency, Training, Clean Energy & Retrofits Prominent Topics in Throne Speech

On September 23rd, the federal government opened the new parliamentary session by unveiling its plan to achieve its new direction and goals. Not surprisingly, the government’s top priority remains to guide Canada through the pandemic, and the badly needed economic recovery to follow. However, other government priorities that were laid out were indicative of programming and funding for various activities related to climate change mitigation and clean energy.

Among the points in the throne speech that were directly related to our Canadian energy efficiency sector were the following:

• Creating thousands of jobs retrofitting homes and buildings, cutting energy costs for Canadian families and businesses, as first item to exceed Canada’s 2030 climate goal;
• Investing in all types of infrastructure, including public transit, energy efficient retrofits, clean energy, rural broadband and affordable housing;
• Making the largest investment in Canadian history in training for workers;
• Close the infrastructure gap in Indigenous communities;
• Deliver more active transit options and making zero-emissions vehicles more affordable, while investing in more charging stations across the country.

These are all good signals for our EE industry. Now what remains to be seen is the budget that will be put toward these stated goals when the minister of finance releases the government’s funding and economic outlook plans.

For more on the throne speech, and how it could affect our industry, you might want to check out these two articles:

• CTV News 
• The Globe and Mail