Thank you, Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Bryan Purcell. I'm the vice-president of policy and programs at The Atmospheric Fund, a regional climate agency serving the greater Toronto and Hamilton area.
Advancing home energy retrofits is core to our work, because housing is a major source of carbon emissions, but retrofits are about much more than carbon reduction. They improve affordability, strengthen communities and support a more resilient and prosperous Canada. Home energy retrofits are like the Swiss army knife of climate action. They lower energy bills for families, improve housing quality and resilience, create local jobs that can't be offshored, and strengthen energy security by reducing reliance on natural gas imported from the U.S.
I have worked with affordable housing providers on energy retrofits for nearly 20 years. I learned quickly that an energy retrofit is never just about energy. It's about better homes and a better quality of life for real people. I remember one resident in one of the buildings we retrofitted reduced to tears as she conveyed her relief at finally feeling safe arriving home after her late-night shifts thanks to a lighting retrofit in the parking garage. I remember a mother whose child suffered severe asthma attacks triggered by second-hand smoke that entered their apartment from neighbouring units. After retrofitting the ventilation system, she told us how much less frequently those attacks were occurring. Energy-efficient, low-carbon homes are simply better places for people.
The powering Canada strong strategy set a target of retrofitting one million homes. We strongly support that ambition. However, achieving it over the next three years will require renewed investment and immediate action. I have three recommendations today, all focused on renewing programs that are expiring or have recently expired. These programs are proven, have established delivery systems and can be brought to market quickly. Federal officials already know how to administer them and how to improve them based on recent experience over the past number of years.
First, I recommend recapitalizing the deep retrofit accelerator initiative. Through this successful program, 13 organizations, including my own, have been supporting multiresidential housing retrofits across Canada, including dedicated programming for indigenous and northern communities. The program helps housing providers plan, finance and implement deep retrofits. It has engaged more than 1,700 building owners and supported retrofits in over 10,000 low-income housing units, with thousands more in development. The program's working well, but it expires in March. Without renewal, many projects risk being stranded.
Second, recapitalize the Canada greener affordable housing program, or CGAH. CGAH provides forgivable and repayable finance for large-scale affordable housing providers to retrofit their buildings. It is a perfect complement to the deep retrofit accelerator initiative. DRAI helps develop investment-ready projects and CGAH provides the capital needed to implement them. Despite its high performance standards, the program was quickly oversubscribed, but there remains a substantial pipeline of shovel-ready projects that could proceed if funding were renewed.
Third, recapitalize and extend the Canada greener homes programs for single-family housing. The grant and loan programs helped more than 500,000 Canadian households undertake home energy retrofits. Demand exceeded available funding. The program could be relaunched quickly, with improvements based on many lessons learned in the first phase, immediately getting the sector back to work retrofitting Canadian homes.
Canada is in a pivotal moment. Building Canada strong requires investments that can create jobs, improve affordability, strengthen energy security and get shovels in the ground quickly. Home energy retrofits do all of those things while also reducing emissions, improving housing quality and reducing reliance on U.S. energy imports. The fastest path to revitalize the sector is recapitalizing successful residential retrofit programs that have proven track records, existing delivery capacity and a pipeline of projects ready to move ahead.
That covers the main points I wanted to make today. I would be more than happy to take any questions any of you may have.