New $250M federal grant program will help offset costs of switching from oil to heat pumps
CBC
The federal government has announced details of a new grant aimed at helping low- to median-income Canadian households make the switch from oil to heat pumps.
The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) Grant will provide households with up to $5,000 — depending on the household income — to cover costs that include the purchase and installation of heat pumps, necessary electrical upgrades and safe removal of the oil tank.
Households may be eligible if they have an income at or below the median household after-tax income, if their home is heated by oil and if they are the primary resident and owner of their home.
The money will be provided up front to pay for the switch, and the new grant can be combined with existing greener-home grants from federal, provincial and territorial governments and utilities.
Sean Fraser, the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, made the announcement Monday morning in Stellarton, N.S.
WATCH | Ottawa announces grant program to replace oil furnances
"It's not a secret that affordability has been front of mind for people who live in our community," he said.
"I think if you talk to anybody about what their top issues are, they'll tell you that the cost of groceries has been going up, they'll tell you that the cost of their home heating oil bill is making life more challenging and the ability to get by is not something that they can take for granted."
The government says a household that moves from heating oil to a heat pump can save between $1,500 and $4,700 a year on energy bills.
Kayla Muir is a homeowner who lives near Stellarton and is raising two young kids. She says her family has been struggling with rising prices of everything from food to clothes to electricity, but one of the biggest expenses in her household is home heating oil.
She said last winter, she couldn't afford to have an oil truck fill her tank, so she would fill jerry cans at the gas station with home heating oil to get by.
"It is, sadly, something that makes us forgo other necessities," she told those at the news conference. "The tough reality is that these days, like many families, the money we spend on heating our home means less bread and milk in our kitchen."
Muir said she's grateful the new grant will be available soon.
"This is a tough time and my family is getting through it, but today's news really feels like a light at the end of the tunnel."
David Fineday said he spent four days straight smudging and praying outside in freezing conditions.The Saskatoon man wants more help for people who do not have a place to live.
This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.
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