Province, Ottawa launch $27.5-M grant program for municipal, business emission-reduction upgrades

The Manitoba and federal governments have launched a new grant program for municipalities and businesses looking to upgrade their infrastructure to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The $27.5-million Manitoba Climate and Economy Solutions Program is open for applications to fund projects ranging from building retrofits to agricultural projects.

“This funding will help them switch to renewable energy, saving both money and cutting emissions,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes.

The federal government is spending $23 million and the province is contributing $4.5 million.

Moyes said the program aligns with the province’s environmental strategy, which aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Our premier is quite ambitious and is actually looking to exceed that goal, but it’s going to bring all the different sectors together, all the different players, and really work together,” he said.

The province’s Path to Net Zero plan states that in 2023, Manitoba’s total greenhouse-gas emissions were 21.3 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, accounting for approximately three per cent of Canada’s national emissions of 708 megatonnes.

Manitoba’s emissions per capita are 15.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is 16 per cent below the national average of 18.2 tonnes per capita.

The feds also announced its second round of funding for Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund, which sees recipients get money to switch from fossil fuels to clean-energy alternatives for their operations.

The first round of funding awarded more than $4.3 million to 18 projects under the province’s merit-based program.

The City of Selkirk was a recipient during the first round of funding, and installed a cold-climate air-source heat pump at the Selkirk Transit Authority building, which eliminated fossil gas use.

The city has undertaken several climate adaptation projects over the years and considers itself a Manitoba leader in municipal planning with the environment in mind.

“(The projects) are not a ‘should we do it?’ They are a ‘we have to do it,’” Mayor Larry Johannson said. “The value I see is that my grandchildren’s grandchildren are going to have a future in the world… I wish my other fellow leaders, other municipalities, other cities, will follow suit.”

Selkirk is aiming to have its building assets and and municipal fleets be fossil fuel-free by 2030.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca