The federal government has suspended a program that encouraged Canadians to make their homes more eco-friendly by retrofitting their dwellings with energy efficient materials.

The ecoENERGY Retrofit program was introduced by the Tories three years ago, providing grants to Canadians who signed up for inspections of their homes, installed new eco-friendly materials and then had a post-retrofit inspection. The grants are worth up to $5,000.

All pre- and post-retrofit inspections are completed by employees of local service organizations that are licensed by Natural Resources Canada.

But on Wednesday, the government announced it "is no longer accepting bookings for pre-retrofit evaluations," meaning those who haven't signed up for the program yet, won't be able to at all.

The program technically continues through to March 31, 2011, which will allow previously signed-up parties to have their evaluations completed and claim the grants. But they will also have to make sure their post-retrofit evaluations are completed by the deadline.

The Natural Resources Department said that the program hasn't been axed, but is simply under review because it has already used up the $300-million fund which was pledged at the outset.

"It is not cancelled," Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis said.

However, he added that the program's future is uncertain as the government will be looking to trim costs in budgets to come.

Liberal environment critic David McGuinty said the program is as good as dead, adding that it is silly to "kill the most popular energy-efficiency program for Canadians."

A year ago, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, then the Natural Resources minister, announced that the government would increase the available ecoENERGY Retrofit grants by 25 per cent.

But she cautioned that the grants would not be available forever.

"This is a great chance for Canadians to save money on home renovations that will cut their energy bills for years to come -- but I do encourage homeowners to act quickly," Raitt said in a statement released by the government on March 30, 2009.

"This special increase in grants is for a maximum of two years only, putting money back in Canadians' pockets when they need it most."