$2.65 million secured for residential energy retrofits through HomeSave Central Kootenays

Residents across the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) can now access energy retrofit funding through HomeSave Central Kootenays, a new program designed to help improve home comfort, reduce energy costs, and lower associated emissions for Kootenay residences.

HomeSave Central Kootenays is an innovative home energy retrofit support program that provides personalized guidance to help residents understand their home’s energy performance, plan upgrades, and access rebates, incentives, and optional financing to support retrofit projects. Operated and delivered by the City of Nelson in partnership with the RDCK, HomeSave is available to homeowners and renters in all RDCK communities, including all municipal and rural areas.

Unlike traditional rebate programs that focus on individual upgrades, HomeSave supports residents through the full retrofit process and offers a performance-based rebate of up to $5,000, which can be combined with federal, provincial, and utility rebates to maximize cost savings for eligible participants. Participants can also access optional retrofit financing of up to $40,000 through a partnership with Nelson & District Credit Union.

Some examples of eligible projects include:

To register, homeowners can visit nelson.ca/HomeSave and submit an online intake form.

HomeSave is supported by multiple funding partners to help make home energy upgrades more accessible. The program will receive up to $2.5 million over four years from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund (GMF), supported by the Government of Canada, to enable program delivery, rebates, and outreach. The program will also benefit from up to $990,000 in loan guarantees from GMF that enhance financing terms offered to residents. Additional support includes $125,000 from FortisBC help make it easier for residents to complete home energy evaluations.

“Homeowners are looking for practical ways to manage energy use and costs, and the City of Nelson’s approach with HomeSave Central Kootenays helps turn that interest into informed action,” said Juan Rincon, C&EM program manager, community engagement, Fortis BC. “By supporting access to home energy evaluations, FortisBC is helping residents identify targeted upgrades that can reduce energy use while improving home comfort over the long term.”

FCM’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF) is a globally unique organization providing funding and education to municipalities to help them both reach net-zero and build resilient communities, while also delivering economic and social benefits such as jobs, housing and infrastructure. Since inception in 2000, it has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.98 million tonnes, funded more than 16,000 person-years of employment, and contributed $1.53 billion to the national GDP via the more than 2,736 approved projects. GMF manages approximately $2.4 billion in programs funded by the Government of Canada.