Carney says he's still committed to green incentives promised during leadership race

Prime Minister Mark Carney looks out at the landscape following an announcement in Wakefield, Que., Tuesday, March 31, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Mark Carney says he’s still committed to delivering incentives to help Canadians go green, something he promised during his bid for the Liberal leadership a year ago but has so far not fully delivered.

Carney promised a number of incentive measures during the leadership campaign, including re-funding the government’s Greener Homes Grant program for lower-income households and exploring discounts for low- and medium-income homeowners who make energy-efficient retrofits.

Carney also promised to strengthen the existing oil-to-heat pump program, which in some cases can provide more than $10,000 to low-to-median income households to switch from oil heating to electric heat pump systems.

But more than a year after Carney took office, those promised incentives haven’t materialized.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Wakefield, Que., Carney said he’s still committed to the promises he made during the leadership race.

He said part of the work happening now is to transfer responsibility for programs like the Greener Homes Grant to Environment and Climate Change Canada from Natural Resources Canada.

“One of the things we’re really focused on … is making sure that when we refresh these programs, that they’re going to be as impactful as possible,” Carney said.

“So part of it is just the work in order to deliver that. So it is a priority, and I appreciate the question.”

Carney also promised in his Liberal leadership bid to bring back subsidies for electric vehicle purchases -- something that was also in the Liberal party election platform -- and to expand the number of EV charging stations.

The government delivered on those earlier this year as part of its new auto strategy.

“Mark Carney is racking up a list of broken promises to Canadians,” a spokesperson for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a statement, taking aim at the prime minister on homebuilding, jobs and grocery prices.

“Canadians deserve a Conservative government that is ready to get to work. We will scrap Liberal inflationary policies and get government out of the way so we can build ourselves up at home to be unbreakable abroad.”

The Greener Homes Grant program, which has been closed since February 2024, provided homeowners up to $5,000 toward the cost of eligible and recommended home retrofits.

The program was hugely popular and uptake exceeded the government’s expectations. As of late January 2024, more than 500,000 Canadians had applied to the program and it had issued more than $700 million in grants for things like insulation, energy-efficient windows and doors, air sealing and solar panels.

“I mentioned this to someone in the government and they said ‘Yeah, for this government and this prime minister, that’s a problem, actually,”’ said Keith Brooks, a program director with the Environmental Defence advocacy group.

Brooks said an official acknowledged to him that when a program is very popular, it costs a lot of money, making it harder for the government to keep capitalizing it.

The window for existing applicants to submit documents for reimbursement under the program closed at the end of December. The Canadian Press has asked Natural Resources Canada for a final tally of the program’s costs but has not yet received the requested information.

Quebec MP and former environment minister Steven Guilbeault said bringing back programs like the Greener Homes Grant would help Canadians in an affordability crunch.

“My understanding is there are conversations about bringing back some of these programs,” Guilbeault told The Canadian Press last week.

“Final decisions haven’t been made, but they’re key components in terms of affordability, fighting climate change, and economic development.”

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin pointed to the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program the government launched with the province of Manitoba in September.

The program provides low-to-median-income homeowners and tenants with no-cost home retrofits, such as insulation and heat pumps.

“That actually is a program that we’ve put in place to help people with lower incomes to be able to retrofit their homes without ever paying out of pocket,” Dabrusin told The Canadian Press Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press