TORONTO – A series of rebates offered by the Ontario government for energy-efficient renovations has been cancelled.
A post on the GreenOn.ca website says several residential and industrial rebate programs, including those for ground source heat pumps and smart thermostats for homes, are actually closed.
The location says, nevertheless, that refunds will likely be honoured for homeowners who submit an application by Sept. 30 or who’ve a signed work agreement with a participating contractor for work to be accomplished by Aug. 31.
The rebate program was announced last 12 months and funded through proceeds from Ontario’s cap-and-trade program through a provincial agency called the Green Ontario Fund.
WATCH: Businesses say they’re fearful about future after GreenON rebate program cancellation. Jamie Mauracher reports.
Its cancellation comes after Ontario’s incoming premier said he would perform his campaign promise to scrap the cap-and-trade system and fight federal rules that will impose a carbon tax on provinces without their very own carbon pricing system.
Doug Ford, who is anticipated to be sworn in as premier on June 29, said last week that eliminating cap and trade could be his first order of business once the legislature resumes.
The Recent Democrats, who will form the province’s official Opposition, slammed Ford for the cancellation of the rebate program saying it was “beyond irresponsible to scrap clean air and climate-change initiatives with no plan to interchange them.”
Ontario has made near $3 billion in a series of cap-and-trade auctions because the system was introduced by the Liberals last 12 months.
