Steve Walker is the program manager for Hearthmakers, a housing assessment group in Kingston.
Until May 12, 2006, Hearthmakers’ house assessments were subsidized by the federal government’s
EnerGuide program. The EnerGuide program was one of several environmentally oriented government programs that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government cut after coming to power in January.
“People who were already in the system can still get grants until next march … It’s still kind of alive.”
Under the EnerGuide program, the government subsidized about 50 per cent of Hearthmakers’ assessments, Walker said, as well as providing grants for homeowners to improve their home’s efficiency.
Averaging about $850, some of these grants were as high as $4,500. They have now been cancelled.
Walker said his company completed 900 audits every year, but have only completed 10 since the funding was cut in May. The company can still do a house assessment, but it will cost $300. “Their energy bills go down about 30 per cent if they retrofit,” he said.
Walker said Hearthmakers is still waiting to hear if the program will be renewed in the future.
Those wishing to have their house assessed can call Hearthmakers at 613-547-8122 about two
weeks in advance of the desired assessment date.
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