Finance committee  There are five things that are required by the low-carbon economy for success in scaling up financing. Those things are focused on domestic projects, on mature technologies, on low-carbon technology specifically, use of varied financial instruments, and—

Finance committee  Not one of those current institutions offers all of the elements that the low-carbon transition requires, specifically. There is a committee that has been established by finance involving representatives from EDC, BDC, and SDTC to look at optimizing the services in this area, and they are coming up against some barriers in their mandates.

Finance committee  Green banks are not banks that take deposits from individuals. They operate like investment banks, and so they syndicate deals with large investors. A green investment bank for Canada would operate at the wholesale level. Green banks can be retail level or wholesale level. A green bank for Canada would operate at the wholesale level, syndicating deals with large institutional investors and large-project developers.

Finance committee  That's right. The low-carbon economy fund was already included in budget 2016 for deployment in budget 2017; $2 billion was allocated over four years. We recommend, instead of spending that money on grants and subsidies, investing that money to create assets on the government's balance sheet by using the money to capitalize a green bank, which would attract private dollars at probably one to four.

Finance committee  At the end of the first reporting year after funds are deployed there will be a return on the initial investment. Normally it's a five- to seven-year investment cycle, at the end of which investments can be divested and the money reinvested. You thus have a cumulus of leverage of up to 23 times over three cycles.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm Lorraine Becker, the co-founder and executive director for the Canadian Coalition for Green Finance. Meeting the Paris agreement and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. Canada's transition to a low-carbon economy will require unprecedented investment in our energy, building, and transportation systems.