The federal government announced $2 billion over eight years to help households install efficient electric heat pumps. This new rebate is estimated to launch in early 2027.
Energy Save New West (ESNW) is a free community energy program that provides energy coaching services (and more!) for all homes, apartment buildings, and businesses in New West. All New West residents and businesses can ask them for advice on how to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve home comfort.
This section applies to: houses, secondary suites, duplexes, triplexes, multiplexes, rowhomes, townhomes, laneway homes, and mobile homes. It includes information on Energy Save New West's Existing Homes Program, available rebates for home renovations and energy efficiency upgrades, and helpful resources and education.
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Incentives and Rebates
The dropdown menus below show rebates for home renovations and energy-saving upgrades. This information is for reference only. For the latest rebate information, please click on the applicable program's link below.
Energy Save New West Incentives and Rebates
Energy Save New West offers include:
Free, one-on-one home energy coaching for energy retrofits such as window replacement, insulation installation, heat pump upgrade, and more. Improve your home's energy efficiency and save money!
$75 (SAVE $420) pre-upgrade energy evaluation with a certified Energy Advisor
Energy Conservation Assistance Program (ECAP) (income-dependent, free coaching and upgrades)
The Energy Conservation Assistance Program offers free assessments, coaching, and energy saving upgrades for income-qualified households. A program representative selects the upgrades and contractors who will install the upgrades. There is no cost to the homeowner for the coaching or the upgrades.
The City of New Westminster is collaborating with BC Hydro to offer solar panel and battery storage rebates to New West residents. Up to $6,500 in savings is available.
The below dropdown sections show helpful educational resources that may help improve your home's energy efficiency, lower its greenhouse gas emissions, and increase its resiliency to climate change.
The BC Home Energy Planner is a free, interactive tool that enables BC residents (including New Westminster residents) to understand their home’s energy efficiency, carbon emissions, and potential for improvement and cost savings.
By completing a quick online survey, you will gain valuable insights into your home and how it can be improved, as well as available rebates to offset the cost of the upgrade.
When existing homes are renovated to decrease their greenhouse gas pollution, heating and hot water equipment that may have previously been fueled by natural gas is moving towards electric heat pumps and hot water heaters.
To avoid needing a higher electrical service, homeowners can be strategic when choosing new electrical loads for their home. The below resources give homeowners some ideas to help reduce a home's electrical load:
The Home Electrification Toolkit is a resource developed by the Building Decarbonization Alliance, that provides information to help Canadians understand the electric options available and factors to consider when replacing their fuel-burning appliances with electric equivalents.
A common worry people have when thinking of living in an all-electric home is how will the home perform during power outages. In most instances, an all-electric home will perform much like one using natural gas as many gas-based systems rely on electricity for the components that allow them to be lit or safely operated.
The City of New Westminster, along with the City of Nanaimo, the City of Kamloops, the Capital Regional District, the Regional District of Nanaimo, and the District of Saanich, organized research and produced a report that looked into these concerns.
This section applies to multi-unit residential buildings such as strata condo buildings and rental apartment buildings, and the individual units within them. It includes information on Energy Save New West, the Strata Energy Advisor and Rental Apartment Retrofit Accelerator programs, rebates and supports for building energy retrofits, and helpful resources and education.
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Concierge Programs (offered Province-wide)
The below dropdown menus show concierge programs for strata and rental apartment buildings. These concierge programs are free and funded by the federal government.
What do concierge programs do? They provide one-on-one guidance for your apartment building to complete renovations and upgrades focused on decreasing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The generally do this by completing a whole-building assessment that identifies key upgrades that will have the biggest impact on your building's energy use and emissions. The concierge will also help your building with rebate applications and help find contractors to complete the work.
The Strata Energy Advisor (SEA) program offers free support to eligible strata condo buildings in B.C. to include low-carbon energy upgrades with required building retrofit projects. An energy advisor works one-on-one with your strata to identify ways to make the building more energy efficient, comfortable, and climate-friendly.
The SEA program can help your strata:
Understand which upgrades could work for your building
Develop a customized plan for building improvements
Estimate costs, energy savings, and potential greenhouse gas reductions
Apply for available rebates, incentives, and financing options
To learn more, including if your building is eligible:
The Rental Apartment Retrofit Accelerator (RARA) program is a free concierge-style service for BC rental apartment buildings that guides them through every stage of the building retrofit process - from figuring out upgrades to implementation to accessing funding and incentives. RARA helps rental building owners plan for the future, manage costs, and improve building sustainability.
The BC Non-Profit Housing Association administers the BC Retrofit Accelerator (BCRA) for non-profit housing and co-op buildings in BC. BCRA is a completely free service for non-profit residential buildings that helps them plan for building upgrades that result in energy efficiency improvements.
BCRA helps with:
identifying energy retrofit projects
accessing incentives and financing
and coaching throughout project implementation to completion.
The dropdown menus below show rebates available for individual units in apartment and condo buildings, as well as for whole-building retrofits. This information is for reference only. For the latest rebate information, please click on the applicable program's link below.
BC Hydro Condo and Apartment Rebate Program (all incomes, up to $3,250 available)
The Condo and Apartment Rebate Program is available to individual units in a strata condo building, equity co-op apartment building, multiplex with six or more units, or purpose-built rental building. The program is administered by BC Hydro and rebates include:
Heat pumps (for homes already heated with electricity)
Heat pump water heaters (for homes that already have electric hot water heating)
Provincial Energy Savings Program (income-dependent, up to $8,500 available)
The Energy Savings Program is available to individual units in a strata condo building, equity co-op apartment building, multiplex with six or more units, or purpose-built rental building. Rebates through the provincial Energy Savings Program include:
Heat pumps (for homes with electric heating)
Heat pump water heaters (for homes with electric hot water heating)
Energy Conservation Assistance Program (ECAP) (income-dependent, free coaching and upgrades) (coming in Fall 2026)
The Energy Conservation Assistance Program offers free assessments, coaching, and energy saving upgrades for income-qualified households. A program representative selects the upgrades and contractors who will install the upgrades. There is no cost to the homeowner for the coaching or the upgrades.
The Multi-Unit Residential Building Retrofit Program is offered by BC Hydro and the Province of BC to strata condo, rental apartment, and co-op buildings in BC. Three offers exist to help MURBs plan for energy retrofits:
Opportunity Assessment (up to $5,000 available)
Feasibility Study (up to $30,000 available)
Rebates for whole-building equipment upgrades (such as heat pumps, windows, water heating, and more) (up to $750,000 available)
The Opportunity Assessment and Feasibility study also consider solar PV and battery storage installation, as well as EV Ready retrofits.
The below dropdown sections show helpful educational resources that may help improve your home's energy efficiency, lower its greenhouse gas emissions, and increase its resiliency to climate change.
Learn all about heat pumps (ESNW = Energy Save New West, B2E = Building to Electrification Coalition):
Learn about apartment renovations that improve energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions (ESNW = Energy Save New West, B2E = Building to Electrification Coalition):
The BC government requires that strata corporations with five or more strata lots get an Electrical Planning Report (EPR). In New Westminster, the deadline to obtain an EPR is December 31, 2026.
An EPR provides a strata corporation with important information about their building’s electrical system and what its capacity is for future needs, such as electric vehicle charging stations and heat pumps.
Resources and FAQs
The BC website outlines the purpose, scope, timelines, and requirements for a Strata Electrical Planning Report.
How does the EPR relate to the City of New Westminster?
The Electrical Planning Report supports the City of New Westminster’s climate change objectives by aligning with Bold Step 3, which requires all new and replacement heating and hot water systems to be zero-emissions (typically, fully electric) by 2030.
How can I find an EPR provider who services New Westminster?
Finding an EPR service provider is similar to finding any other construction/trade professional. Research local tradespeople online, or ask for referrals from your property manager, tradespeople who already service your building, or other local stratas. We recommend requesting the service provider provide references and examples of past EPRs they have completed.
How do we get our building’s electrical data from New West Electrical Utility?
Should single-family detached homes or duplexes get an EPR?
While single-family detached homes and duplexes are not required to obtain an EPR, the City encourages homeowners to begin planning for electrification. Working directly with a qualified electrical contractor to assess panel capacity and electrical readiness is a practical first step toward transitioning to electric heating and hot water systems, such as heat pumps. This approach can help homeowners prepare for future upgrades while supporting the City’s climate goals, which targets all new and replacement heating and hot water systems to be zero-emissions by 2030. Visit Energy Save New West to learn more and get one-on-one electrification guidance.
We got the EPR done, what’s next?
With the EPR complete, your strata can use it to decide next steps. This may include reviewing options to reduce electrical demand, evaluating potential electrical upgrades to increase capacity, and exploring adding heat pumps or EV charging. Supports exist to help your strata with upgrades:
The Strata Energy Advisor (SEA) program is a free support service for BC strata buildings to help them plan and implement energy efficiency upgrades.
Building upgrades such as switching from gas boilers to electric options, window replacement, and the addition of cooling improve its resiliency to extreme weather and gets New West closer to meeting its climate targets.
Businesses and Commercial Buildings
Many supports and rebates exist for businesses and commercial buildings to improve their energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse emissions. The below sections show available supports. Note: New Westminster Electrical Utility commercial customers are eligible for BC Hydro programs and rebates.
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Building Benchmark BC (BBBC) is a voluntary program that helps commercial building owners understand how their building uses energy. Building owners provide their building's energy use information to BBBC; BBBC helps turn that data into a clear picture of the building’s energy performance.
Key benefits include:
Benchmark your building: Understand your building’s energy performance and compare it with similar buildings.
Identify opportunities: Use your building’s energy data to identify opportunities for energy savings, operational improvements and future upgrades.
Get support: BBBC provides resources and guidance to help participants collect and submit their building data.
Demonstrate leadership: Show your commitment to energy efficiency and responsible building management.
The City of New Westminster is a participating municipality and encourages local commercial buildings and businesses to join BBBC and better understand their energy performance.
BOMA BC’s Decarb Accelerator Program provides commercial building owners and managers with tailored support to identify and reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions while preparing for evolving carbon regulations in British Columbia.
Expert guidance: Get tailored support from a dedicated program expert.
Custom decarb plans: Identify practical retrofit and emissions-reduction opportunities.
Energy assessments: Access energy audits and modelling to evaluate improvements.
Training & resources: Benefit from tools, training, benchmarking, and business-case support.
Program value: Access resources valued at $20,000+ per building.
The City of New Westminster has partnered with BC Green Business to help local businesses strengthen their sustainability practices while achieving formal green certification.
Through comprehensive sustainability assessments and one-on-one expert support, participating businesses identify and implement practical improvements to:
enhance energy efficiency,
conserve water,
reduce waste, and
avoid single-use plastics.
In 2025, five New Westminster businesses across diverse sectors participated in the pilot, demonstrating how local organizations can make measurable environmental improvements and gain recognition for their sustainability efforts.
Key benefits and pilot highlights include:
Assess your operations: Receive a comprehensive sustainability assessment to understand your business’s environmental impact and identify opportunities for improvement.
Get expert support: Access one-on-one guidance to implement practical, cost-effective sustainability measures suited to your business.
Reduce costs and environmental impact: Improve energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce emissions, and divert waste through measures such as LED lighting, ENERGY STAR certified appliances, and improved waste management.
Achieve recognized certification: Earn formal green certification through BC Green Business to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability to customers and the community.
Make a measurable impact: In the 2025 pilot, five local businesses collectively conserved 40,675 kWh of electricity, saved 570 m³ of water, diverted 10,044 kg of waste, and avoided 13,350 single-use plastic items.
Following the pilot’s success, the program has been extended to help make New Westminster even greener. Local business owners interested in participating are encouraged to reach out and express their interest.
