By fast-tracking energy-efficient homes, strengthening charging networks for electric vehicles, and funding distributed energy resources, Canada could create jobs, cut energy bills, and improve public health while decarbonizing its economy, The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) argues in a set of “made-in-Canada policy recommendations” issued in mid-March.

Released just ahead of a federal election in which reducing economic reliance on the United States is emerging as the key issue, the TAF submission  prioritizes [pdf] “opportunities for made-in-Canada companies” in the transportation and buildings sectors—which account for 45% of the country’s climate emissions.

TAF’s third focus is strengthening a non-emitting electricity grid to support decarbonization in the other two sectors. It calls for Canada to set an ambitious target for net-zero electricity generation and end the use of fossil fuels on the grid.

Build Canadian, Build Green

With so much of Canada’s building stock aging—making it expensive to heat and cool, and vulnerable to extreme weather—now is the time to scale up new green builds and low-carbon retrofits, a move that would also “stimulate a thriving construction economy and good jobs across the country,” writes TAF.

To make that happen, Ottawa must support training programs and certifications for construction workers and tradespeople, the report adds, calling workforce development “a strategic opportunity” across the country.

To maximize energy savings, it says the federal government should include low-carbon requirements in all tiers of the National Building Code, “support and encourage efficient fuel switching”—like by funding heat pumps—and phase out the sale of gas furnaces by 2035.

EVs for Everyone

Electric vehicles are “mission-critical” to Canada’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets, TAF writes. Beyond cutting emissions, widespread EV adoption would improve respiratory health and reduce household transportation costs.

To achieve this mission, Ottawa must make EVs and charging networks available to all Canadians regardless of where they live, the budget submission states. That will mean upholding the 2023 EV Availability Standard, which calls for Canada must achieve 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, with interim targets of at least 20% by 2026 and 60%, by 2030.

The feds will also need to roll out funding and incentives to strengthen EV charging networks across the country. TAF says funding must be tied to “a 97% functional uptime requirement” for EV chargers.

Ottawa will also want to assist EV charging infrastructure retrofits in multi-family urban residential buildings (MURBs), and update building codes to require EV charging readiness in new multi-unit buildings.

Going all in on EVs will reap public health rewards, says TAF, citing its own research showing that the EV Availability Standard for light-duty vehicles will deliver “roughly $90 billion” in health savings for Canadians—in the form of fewer hospital visits, respiratory and other illnesses, and subsequent deaths.

EV adoption is also a boon for Canadian wallets: “Over a 10-year span, the average cumulative ownership cost of an electric vehicle hatchback is $48,943, whereas the gas-powered alternative is $82,515,” Environment and Climate Change Canada said when the EV Availability Standard was first announced.

Energy Efficiency and Distributed Energy

“The cheapest kilowatt of power is the one that you don’t use,” TAF writes. And that makes the case for energy efficiency programs and distributed energy resources (DERs) located close to the site of energy consumption—like a solar panel on a rooftop—that help households “avoid, defer, or reduce costly investments in transmission, distribution, and utility-scale generation.” Those savings, in turn, play a critical role in combatting energy poverty.

To ensure rapid deployment of DERs, TAF calls on the federal government to use a combination of funding and regulations to end fossil-fueled electricity, while funding low-to medium-income households and small businesses to secure DERs like solar PV, battery storage, and “grid-connected equipment like water heaters and EV charging”.

(Disclosure: Energy Mix Productions provides editorial services to TAF, but was not involved in the production of this report.)

This story is part of The 89 Percent Project, an initiative of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.