Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for inviting us to appear before you today.
I understand that at previous meetings my colleagues from Natural Resources Canada provided you with an overview of electricity supply and consumption in Canada, some of the responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments, and some of the federal government support programs for meeting the challenges of the electricity sector in Canada.
I would like to focus my time today on some of the complementary support that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation offers to promote sustainable housing and communities in Canada. I'd like to start by giving you a brief overview of CMHC, its mandate, and areas of activity.
We are a crown corporation, and we were created as Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation back in 1946. We stayed as Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation until the late seventies. We were created in 1946 to deal with the severe housing shortage that was faced by the returning veterans at the time and to put in place a modern housing system. Over the years we've been proud to play the role of Canada's national housing agency.
Currently we are active in four main areas. The first is housing finance. Through our mortgage insurance and securitization function, CMHC helps to ensure that Canadians have access to mortgage financing at the lowest possible cost, no matter where they live in Canada.
The second area of activity is housing assistance to low-income Canadians. On behalf of the federal government, CMHC provides, mainly in partnership with the provinces, assistance to low-income Canadians who can't afford housing on their own.
The third area is housing research. Through the provision of information to governments, industry, and consumers, CMHC helps to make housing markets work more efficiently and encourages the production of high-quality, affordable housing.
The fourth is export promotion. CMHC assists the Canadian housing industry in selling its products and services abroad.
While my comments today will focus on CMHC support for energy conservation through research and information transfer, all four areas of activity contribute. For example, borrowers using CMHC mortgage loan insurance can obtain a 10% rebate on their insurance premium when they buy or build an energy efficient home or make energy-saving renovations to an existing home.
Through CMHC's residential rehabilitation assistance program, commonly known as RRAP, we help low-income households repair dwellings to minimum health and safety levels. At the same time, these repairs can include renovations and retrofits to improve energy performance of the house.
On the export side, CMHC, in partnership with NRCan, has helped Canadian energy efficient housing technology be exported to other countries. A good example is the Super E Home project in Great Britain.
Let me turn to our research and information transfer role. We offer a range of publications on sustainable housing and communities on topics such as energy retrofits, passive solar techniques and design, household water efficiency, energy use in off-grid housing, and new models of sustainable community design. This information helps the housing industry, governments, consumers, and others make informed housing decisions.
Perhaps the most effective means of information transfer has been the demonstration project. Over the years we have done a number of them, and our experience shows that when consumers can actually see or touch innovation they are far more likely to understand it. The logic is that consumers who are more aware and comfortable with an innovation are more likely to demand it in the marketplace.
I'd like to say a few words about two demonstration projects aimed at advancing energy efficiency in housing—one that was extremely successful and one that is just under way and holds great promise.
The first, our healthy housing demonstration, began about 15 years ago and brought together much of the research work we're doing in the area of resource sustainability in housing. CMHC's healthy housing initiative was truly innovative, as it balanced occupant health, energy efficiency, resource efficiency, environmental responsibility, and affordability. Through CMHC's healthy housing design competition, we demonstrated to the public and the housing industry that it was possible to build housing that is healthy both for its inhabitants and the environment. For example, the Toronto Healthy House was designed to be self-sufficient and included features such as solar panels, high-efficiency windows, water-efficient fixtures, potable water from rainfall, and waste water treatment on site.
CMHC is now building on the healthy housing principles through a second major initiative. EQuilibrium, launched in the fall of 2005, will demonstrate the next generation of environmentally sustainable healthy housing.
At this point, I'd like to acknowledge the impetus given to this project at its outset by Gordon Shields and the Net-Zero Energy Home Coalition. They were truly instrumental in helping us to get this initiative off the ground.
This initiative brings together the private and public sectors to design and produce highly energy efficient housing that provides healthy indoor living for its inhabitants, produces as much power as it consumes on a yearly basis, and reduces the environmental impacts on land, water, and air. EQuilibrium homes—EQ homes—incorporate commercially available integrated on-site renewable energy systems to provide their own supply of clean green power and deliver electricity back to the grid.
This past February, the Human Resources and Social Development minister, the minister also responsible for CMHC, the Honourable Monte Solberg, announced the 12 winning EQuilibrium teams. Each winning team will receive financial assistance from CMHC to offset costs, such as project documentation, performance testing, and publicly demonstrating the homes. CMHC is working with the winning teams to provide technical and promotional support and will monitor and report on the performance of the houses. The demonstration homes will be open to Canadians to view in 2008. Through EQuilibrium, Canadian consumers will be more aware of the choices that are available today in the marketplace. At the same time, it will show how homeowners can benefit from lower energy bills.
The folders that we have distributed contain information on the EQ initiative. We've also included a bibliography of some of the research reports and publications that CMHC offers. I'd also invite you to visit our website or our Canadian housing information centre, which is the largest housing library in Canada. It's located here in Ottawa at our national office.
I'd like to thank you again for inviting us to speak today. We'll be happy to take your questions.