More Than Half of Canadians Spend Over $200 per Month on Energy Bills

Canadians are less than enthusiastic about costly climate programs as inflation causes prices to soar. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

More than half of Canadians, 53 percent, spend over $200 per month to heat and power their homes, according to research conducted on behalf of the federal Natural Resources department.

More than one in five Canadian homeowners, 21 percent, said that energy costs for their primary residence were a “significant financial burden to them,” according to the report, “Supporting Accessibility, Inclusivity and Retention on Energy Efficiency Programs,” which was commissioned by Natural Resources to investigate why Canadians were not taking advantage of federal grants for home retrofits, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter on Oct. 24.

“Homeowners in Alberta (74 percent), the Atlantic provinces (69 percent) and the Territories (79 percent) are more likely than other homeowners to report paying more than $200 per month for their primary residence’s energy bills,” said the report.

Homeowners who live in a rural location were also more likely, at 59 percent, to say they paid more than $200 per month for energy.

“A little over a quarter (26 percent) of Canadian homeowners reported that their monthly expenses (including all bills, mortgage, debt payments and loans) exceeded 60 percent of their monthly household income,” said the report.

“Almost one out of five homeowners (21 percent) estimated this expense to be between 41 to 60 percent of their household income.”

Homeowners in Alberta, at 42 percent, and those between 35 to 54 years of age, at 25 percent, were more likely to find their energy costs a significant financial burden, which has not changed significantly compared to results from 2022.

Energy Efficiency

Around one-quarter of Canadian homeowners, 26 percent, said they had no money saved or available to make improvements to their primary residence. Almost one in five homeowners, 21 percent, reported having less than $5,000 available to make improvements to their property.

When asked what they were considering to improve energy efficiency, many Canadians mentioned a plan to replace their doors and windows and re-insulate their property. Others mentioned air sealing the house and installing more energy-efficient heating.

The federal government launched a Canada Greener Homes program in 2021, offering grants to homeowners if they allowed an energy audit of their homes and applied for grants to help cover the cost of certain renovations like new windows and improved insulation. Cabinet said on May 16, in an Inquiry of Ministry, that only 287,198 Canadians had applied for grants while the program had anticipated applications from 700,000 homeowners.

The report said only 26 percent of those surveyed had applied for a grant, with various reasons cited such as the process was too complicated, that renovations were too expensive or over their budget, or that the grant was not enough money to make a difference.

Natural Resources Canada used Leger Marketing firm to question 2,082 homeowners from every province and Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories, with a contract value of $179,840. The research was conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviews, asking one adult per household to take part, between March 16 and May 1.

To meet “objectives,” the study had to survey certain key target groups and meet minimum quotas from populations that included Indigenous homeowners, members of the LGBT community, visible minorities, disabled Canadians, and new residents of Canada in the last 10 years.