Thank you, Chair and members. It's a delight to be here this afternoon.
My name is Brent Gilmour. I'm the executive director of Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow, QUEST. QUEST is a national, non-profit organization that was established in 2007. It is a non-member-based organization. We are focused on advancing integrated community systems across Canada with a focus on linking energy with land use, buildings, transportation, waste, water, and waste water.
We are a collaboration of organizations of which many will testify in front of you over the next few days or testified prior to that, including CEPA, Spectra, Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Canadian Institute of Planners, and many others.
We have a very focused mission and mandate. We are here to help mobilize community builders across Canada in all 5,400 urban, rural, remote, first nations, aboriginal, as well as Inuit communities. We are focused on a vision and hope that by 2035 all communities in Canada could operate as an integrated energy system.
The approach we're taking to advance this is really simple. We are focusing on encouraging people to adopt six basic principles: improve efficiency; energy optimization; better manage heat; reduce waste and collect waste opportunities; use renewable resources; and use grids strategically.
The approach we are taking to do this really addresses one key focus and one key concern. Energy planning across Canada tends to occur in silos. It is separate from land use, transportation, waste, water, and so forth. It's hence difficult for many communities to understand how to address energy demand needs. At the same time, many of these communities face a number of infrastructure challenges, such as the delivery of heating and cooling services and mobility, with a focus on transit, as well as goods movement.
It is why QUEST is responding by focusing on integrated community energy solutions--ICES--a concept that was introduced by QUEST and Natural Resources Canada. A road map was created, a road map for action that was endorsed by the Council of Energy Ministers in 2009 and then reaffirmed by the Council of the Federation in 2010. Due to these two affirmations, this document has gained traction across Canada. It is now starting to provide a coordinated approach based on QUEST's six principles on how we might address some of the challenges.
ICES is not only about buildings. It's about the entire community and how you might advance those energy challenges. It is why QUEST endorsed and undertook a national study with three leading firms across Canada that was endorsed by a number of organizations and presented at the Standing Committee on Natural Resources last year. The information looked at the following.
When applied, ICES could save money, create jobs, grow the economy, and reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously addressing some of the energy challenges. If ICES is applied as a whole, we could at times address between $14 billion and $29 billion in terms of capital spending reductions. We could achieve a $3 billion to $6 billion reduction in terms of energy expenditures and a minimum of $12 billion to $31 billion in terms of annual household energy costs. This doesn't include indirect costs.
We're here to present three suggestions to you in terms of federal budget recommendations. QUEST is calling on the federal government to continue to invest in the actions it has already undertaken, such as ICES. We believe it will be able to continue to save money, create jobs, grow the economy, and reduce energy consumption. It's why we're suggesting that $8 million of existing federal support, divided among four or five departments, could be redirected to three specific ICES activities.
The first activity would address remote urban, rural, first nations, Inuit, and Métis community energy needs with ICES. It would allow for a reduction in energy use through a variety of opportunities and means.
Secondly, we would encourage the strengthening of national competitiveness and international trade by investing in ICES. As of this year, we noted that DFAIT was directed to encourage energy in terms of trade.
We lastly recommend that they close the known national information gaps and remove policy barriers to ICES while specifically encouraging congruent policies that might easily be undertaken through a better working, coordinated body among five or six identified agencies within the federal government.
These are the recommendations we believe support the federal budget direction focused on sustained economic recovery, sustainable jobs, lower tax opportunities for residents and businesses across Canada, and a balanced budget in every urban, rural, remote, and aboriginal community of Canada.
Thank you for the opportunity to present.