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The scheme to try and incentivize Canadians to switch to less reliable heat pumps is expected to cost taxpayers $2.7 billion, up from the original $750 million estimate.
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OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) –– An ideologically charged Canadian federal government “green” program to try and get homeowners to switch their reliable heating oil furnaces for less reliable electric heat pumps via a large grant has been blasted by a taxpayer advocacy group as yet more government waste after it was revealed the program is set to cost nearly four times as much as originally thought.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a recent federal Legislative Costing Note from the Parliamentary Budget Office released last Thursday showed that estimated costs for a federal government program to give households $15,000 grants to switch to new heat pumps have gone from $750 million to $2.7 billion.
“The Budget Office estimates there are up to 244,000 households nationwide that could be eligible for program funding,” stated the Legislative Costing Note, which added that if all eligible households access the program, “we estimate the program could have a maximum potential cost of $2.7 billion.”
According to notes from the Enhancements To The Oil To Heat Pump Affordability Program, the program uptake was “projected by extrapolating historical participation trends in the program.”
The original scheme was to allow $10,000 to eligible homeowners to convert from their oil-fired furnaces to an electric heat pump. The cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last October expanded the grants to $15,000 along with a $250 “one-time bonus payment.”
As it stands now, the grants apply to residents in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
According to The Budget Office, “approximately 10,000 households” to date have officially qualified for electric heat pump grants.
In October of last year, amid dismal polling numbers that showed his government would be defeated in a landslide by the Conservative Party come the next election, Trudeau announced he was pausing the collection of the carbon tax on home heating oil in Atlantic Canadian provinces for three years.
He then revealed the main reason for the announcement, which was to encourage locals to ditch their home heating oil units for electric heat pumps and said his government would be giving out free pumps to many homeowners.