Feds fund NWT program to improve energy efficiency in buildings, industry

Ottawa is contributing $8 million towards an N.W.T. government program to reduce the costs of implementing energy efficiency upgrades for buildings and industry.

The application-based grant program will help fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heating, electricity, transportation, and industrial processes, such as retrofits to space heating boilers and district heating systems.

The industrial sector is one of the primary emissions sources in the territory, according to a government news release. This is the sixth program in the N.W.T. to be funded through the federal government’s Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund.

“We are taking real action on climate change through renewable energy, fuel substitution, and energy efficiency retrofits for our territory’s industrial and commercial sectors. The people of the Northwest Territories can be proud that their governments are creating the tools needed so that everyone can play a role in reducing pollution, improving energy efficiency, and creating good jobs for our Northern economy,” N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod said in the release announcing the funding on May 10.

A report last month from Environment and Climate Change Canada scientists found Canada’s North is warming three times the global rate.