April 16, 2025
Gélinas: Nickel Belt residents left out of the Home renovation savings program
QUEEN’S PARK – France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, rose in the legislature this morning to ask why the Ontario’s energy efficiency subsidies are not available to her constituents.
“Speaker, heating your home is essential in the cold Ontario winters, and can cost of lot of money. So the good people of Nickel Belt were so happy when the government announced the Home renovation savings program, to help Ontarians improve home energy efficiency, and lower their heating bills.
However, the money that the government offers through the program is only available to Enbridge Natural Gas customers. Speaker, over 95% of my riding does not have access to natural gas. I, myself live only a few kilometres away from a natural gas pipeline, but I do not have access to natural gas. As a result, people in the Nickel Belt DO NOT qualify for this program. Many seniors and people on fixed income, would love to have a heat pump, a smart thermostat, an energy efficient fridge or freezer but because we do not have access to natural gas, we are not an Enbridge customer, the provincial program is not available to us.
We all know that the further north you go the colder it gets, residents of Northern Ontario have a much greater need for an energy saving program; this year alone, Northern Ontario reached as low as -38.5 degrees, you don’t see that in Toronto. People living in Northern Ontario and I urge the government to help all Ontarians lower their energy bills, make the program available to all Ontarians not just the customers of Enbridge; a massive oil and gas corporation. Thank you.”
The Home Renovations Savings program was introduced at the beginning of 2025.