The federal government last week announced a program that will offer homeowners grants of up $5,600 to make energy-saving adjustments to their properties. Eligible properties must be primary residences and must undergo evaluations before and after the retrofit by a Natural Resources Canada-certified energy advisor, who will determine which upgrades can be covered.
That requirement could mean long waiting lists, according to some of those advisors, who say they are facing a shortage of trained personnel and continuing pandemic restrictions in many provinces. “Right now we are not doing home energy evaluations,” Mary Jane Patterson, executive director of REEP Green Solutions in Kitchener, Ont., told the CBC. “We are being cautious and abiding by the stay-at-home order,” Patterson said REEP is currently booking two to three months out.
