THUNDER BAY — On Wednesday, MP Patty Hajdu made an echo announcement about the Canada Green Buildings Strategy, which was part of the 2024 federal budget.
Hajdu spoke to media about the renewed strategy and how it's being revised to help low-income households.
To reduce emissions when retrofitting buildings and appeal to more Canadians, the strategy has been revised to benefit low-income households.
In the revision, Hajdu noted families that might not have had the cash up front to make energy-efficient changes would've had to wait for reimbursements. Instead, they can now apply for renovations through the federal government, and a third-party operator will perform the upgrades.
These retrofits will be conducted at no cost to the household, said Hajdu.
"We're hoping to be able to launch that portal by the spring of next year," she said.
"This is something I think that's really exciting to families across the country . . . that just can't afford to do those renovations. Maybe they want to do those renovations and need the expertise to be able to get those renovations done without a lot of hoops to jump through."
The new funding replaces the Canada Greener Homes Grant that was available previously.
Hajdu was echoing the announcement made on Tuesday.
Katie Nicholls is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with Newswatch