Canada Greener Homes Loan
Overview
Canada Greener Homes Loan
The Canada Greener Homes Loan offers interest-free financing to help Canadians make their homes more energy efficient and comfortable.
The loan can help you finance eligible retrofits that are recommended by an energy advisor and that have not yet been started.
IMPORTANT: You should not start any retrofit work before your loan application has been submitted. Any retrofits started before submitting your loan application are ineligible.
Loan details
You cannot apply for a loan for the following:
- Work that has already been started or completed
- Retrofits that were not recommended in your pre-retrofit evaluation
- Retrofits that are not included in your application (that is, you must not add additional retrofits to your loan application after it has been approved)
- Retrofits that are not eligible for a Canada Greener Homes Grant
Eligibility
All loan applicants
There are some eligibility requirements to meet before applying for the loan:
- You must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or non-permanent resident who is legally authorized to work in Canada
- You must own the home and it must be your primary residence
- You have a pre-retrofit evaluation and have not yet had a post-retrofit evaluation
- Your pre-retrofit evaluation was completed on or after April 1, 2020
- You have not started the retrofits for which you are seeking a loan
- You have a good credit history and are not in:
- a consumer proposal
- an orderly payment of debt program
- a bankruptcy or equivalent insolvency proceeding
Low-rise multi-unit residential buildings
Individual homeowners living in a low-rise multi-unit residential building (MURB) must meet the additional eligibility criteria for MURBs.
Indigenous group applicants
- You are eligible to register multiple homes
- You must own the home(s) or have a formal partnership to represent the owners, but the homes do not need to be the owner’s primary residence
- Your home must be occupied by an Indigenous household
- You must select at least one eligible retrofit for each property subject to the loan
Northern and off-grid communities
Canadians living in northern and off-grid communities face specific challenges when it comes to completing home retrofits, including higher equipment and labour costs. To help with this, all retrofit amounts have been adjusted to provide an additional 30% for northern and off-grid communities.
Additionally, homeowners living in northern and off-grid communities are eligible for replacements of existing fossil-fuel burning equipment. Further, homeowners living in a northern community are eligible for additional insulation measures (attic, ceiling, and exposed floor insulation).
Loan application tips:
- Ensuring your application is complete and accurate will improve processing time and allow you to start your retrofits sooner.
- You cannot start any work until your loan application has been submitted. Any retrofits started before submitting your application are ineligible.
We recommend that you do not start any work before your loan application has been approved. If you choose to begin your retrofits before your loan application is approved, you are responsible for all costs if your application is declined. - Submitting an application with incomplete and/or inaccurate information will cause delays. Do not submit your loan application with missing documents or incomplete information
- Your loan application must include all retrofits that you plan to complete. Retrofits that are not included in your loan application cannot be added later.
If you include retrofits in your application that you later decide not to complete, these will be subtracted from your loan before final funding. The adjusted loan amount must be at least $5,000 to remain eligible. - Make sure that the quotes from contractors are clear and show the cost of the eligible energy efficient retrofits.
- The maximum eligible loan amount is calculated based on the retrofits selected in the application and the quotes for this work. The eligible amount is capped based on industry standards and market norms. The maximum eligible loan amount may be less than your quoted cost, in which case, you will be responsible for funding the difference.
Upfront costs
Once approved, up to 15%* of the loan can be delivered up front if a deposit is required by your contractor. The initial advance is only available for retrofits that require a deposit. The balance of the loan will be delivered once the retrofits have been completed and verified through a post-retrofit evaluation.
You can request the initial advance during your application by uploading the quotes from contractors and entering the deposit amounts required to do the retrofit.
*The initial advance is increased to 25% if your property is located in the North or off-grid.
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