Home Upgrades Program
Aiming to make energy costs more affordable for households experiencing energy poverty in Calgary, Edmonton, and other Albertan communities.
About
The Home Upgrades Program has reached capacity and is currently waitlisting all applicants. Calgary residents can apply for support from the Calgary Home Upgrades Program.
To help make energy costs more affordable for lower-income households, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation partnered with Kambo Energy Group to offer the Home Upgrades Program.
A coalition of funders supports the program, including Alberta Ecotrust's Climate Innovation Fund, the City of Edmonton, the City of Calgary, the Town of Canmore, the City of St. Albert (through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund), the Calgary Foundation, McConnell Foundation, ENMAX, the Alberta Real Estate Foundation and Suncor Energy Foundation.
Designed for efficiency
The program helps to make energy costs more affordable for households, by reducing their energy consumption.
From 2023 to early 2025, the Home Upgrades Program offered free energy efficiency education and home upgrades to income-qualified families living in Calgary, Edmonton, Canmore and St. Albert. We identified and installed home upgrades based on each household’s unique needs, such as new windows, furnaces, and insulation. The program was designed to reduce energy costs, and improve the comfort, safety and efficiency of the homes.
What the cities are saying
Addressing Energy Poverty in Alberta
Energy poverty refers to the experience of households or communities that struggle to afford to heat and power their homes.
In Canada, families spending more than six percent of their after-tax income on energy bills are considered to be in energy poverty. That is about 64,000 families in Calgary and 50,000 in Edmonton.
These families are forced to spend less money on food, clothing, and other essentials.
Typically, energy-poor households live in homes that are significantly less energy-efficient than average homes. This is due to older appliances and poor building conditions. Properly selected energy efficiency measures have proven to be the most cost-effective and efficient solution to reduce energy bills and relieve energy poverty.
Our approach
The Home Upgrades Program tackles energy affordability through home upgrades that improve efficiency, comfort and safety while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program identifies and installs home upgrades based on each household’s unique needs, which may include upgrades such as furnaces, air sealing, and insulation.
Building on previous work, best practice research, and program results, we will develop recommendations and program design principles for Alberta’s first province-wide program that is scalable and sustainable. A public report with our program results and recommendations will be shared in 2025.
Our goal is to raise awareness among local, provincial, and federal governments about the need for this program in Alberta.
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Read more stories from our participants
Learn more about Albertans who have benefited from the Home Upgrades Program.
Thank You to Our Program Partners and Contributors
