Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for joining us.
I live in a slightly more rural area where there aren't many multi-unit buildings. Often, those with limited means are not eligible for the programs we are talking about. These programs are often based on the property assessment of the house and, in a region like mine, the property assessment criteria do not allow people with limited means to access these programs.
I'll give you an example. The septic systems in the region often fail and cause pollution issues in the lakes. Working with the municipalities, we found a solution, which is to allow people to add the expense of having their septic systems repaired to their property tax and spread it out over several years. There is no credit issue with banks, the interest rate is very low and we are solving the environmental problem.
Let's talk about energy efficiency. There is a mayor back home who very strongly supports the property assessed clean energy, or PACE, funding model, which we talked about.
Mr. Purcell, I would like to know whether you think this model could apply in my region and whether it would allow people who don't normally have access to assistance programs for energy retrofits to benefit from this model.