Retrofits for the Future: Lessons from Affordable Housing and Energy Efficiency Programs in Canada

This chapter presents important lessons from the first systematic evaluation of social housing energy retrofit programs in the last decade. Recognizing the potential impact of energy savings in social housing, the comparative research focused on the experiences of three provinces in Canada—BC, Ontario and Alberta—to highlight the diversity of approaches, program achievements and challenges in program implementation. Highlights from nineteen case studies of best practices in the four largest cities illustrate a range of investment strategies deployed by public, non-profit and cooperative housing providers, beneficial in environmental, economic and social terms. Despite the overall success of the first generation of programs, the new wave of investment in energy efficiency retrofits is challenged by lack of sustainable funding and shifts in political commitments. Policy design is characterized by ‘trial and error’ generating a positive, but not necessarily coherent evolution in the social housing system. The research proposes a new ‘3i’ framework to manage inventory, investment and innovation in the post-pandemic future.