British Columbia’s municipalities are at the forefront of Canada’s efforts to decarbonize building heating systems, according to the latest report by the Building Decarbonization Alliance (BDA).

The report provides a “jurisdictional scan” of policies, detailing how municipalities and provinces are working to electrify heating and phase out fossil fuels in buildings across the country.

The BDA’s policy inventory includes Vancouver’s 2023 mandate that all newly-installed air conditioning systems in detached homes be powered by electricity. Several other municipalities in B.C. and Quebec have introduced similar bylaws that restrict or ban fossil fuel heating systems or mandate zero-emission equipment. However, outside of B.C., municipal powers are often limited by provincial oversight, the BDA writes.

At the provincial level, B.C. and Quebec are leading with regulations that aim to eliminate fossil fuel heating in buildings. Quebec banned oil heat in new buildings in 2021, extending this ban to retrofits in 2023. Meanwhile, B.C. has introduced the BC Energy Step Code, which sets energy efficiency requirements for most new buildings, and the Zero Carbon Step Code, a voluntary standard for municipalities looking to encourage or require low-emission construction.

Currently, 14 municipalities reference this code in their bylaws and programs. By 2030, B.C. aims to require all new buildings to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

In one “notable illustration” of a measure that goes beyond regulation to expedite electrification, B.C. moved in 2022 to eliminate the provincial sales tax on heat pumps and increase the sales tax on fossil fuel combustion systems from 7% to 12%.

In the Maritimes, Nova Scotia plans to ban oil furnaces in new buildings by 2025, while New Brunswick is “working with the federal government toward the phaseout of heating oil use in all buildings,” BDA adds. “This work will include identifying transition support for heating oil delivery companies.”

As of August, 2024, none of the remaining provinces had regulations to speed building decarbonization, either on the books or in development. The Yukon and Northwest Territories and Nunavut are special cases, the BDA report authors Aurélie Vérin and Mathieu Poirier told The Energy Mix.

“Due to their unique needs, especially around climate conditions and their current reliance on diesel, Northern territories tend to rely on incentives and pilot projects rather than fossil fuel phaseout regulations,” they said. “Since the BDA’s scan focused on regulatory frameworks aimed at decarbonization rather than more efficiency-focused incentive programs, those territorial actions fell outside the paper’s scope.”

Even where they are in place, municipal laws enforcing decarbonization are not cast in stone, the BDA warns, citing Vancouver City Council’s “controversial” July 2024 decision to “restore the option for new home construction to use natural gas for heating and hot water,” overturning an earlier mandate to require zero-emissions heating and water across the board by 2025.

“This decision marks a significant step backward for decarbonization, illustrating how even well-developed initiatives can face setbacks, further complicating the path towards building decarbonization.” the BDA writes.

The report highlights the federal government’s role in setting national standards and supporting decarbonization. In the Canada Green Buildings Strategy, Ottawa committed to introducing a regulatory framework to phase out oil heating systems in new construction by 2028. The National Building Code and the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) provide minimum energy-efficiency standards adopted by several provinces.

The report also offers a global perspective, examining European efforts to decarbonize building heat. Policies include communal thermal planning in Germany, strategic reduction of gas distribution pipelines in the Netherlands and Germany, and efficiency standards for space heating across the European Union.

(Disclosure: Energy Mix Productions is a member of the Building Decarbonization Alliance.)