Amount: $250,000 per project ($20,000 minimum)

 

Objective of Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF)

The Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF) SME Project stream provides support to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for retrofit projects in sectors such as Building, Transportation, Industry, Waste, and Agriculture which result in significant energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Eligibility Criteria: Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF)

  • Be a for-profit company in Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan or Manitoba;
  • Have less than 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees;
  • Intend to significantly reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions.

Eligible Cost under Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF)

Direct Expenditures

  1. all capital costs, including site preparation, only once ECCC is satisfied that the Government of Canada’s obligations, if any, related to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 and the legal duty to consult with, and accommodate, Indigenous Peoples have been met;
  2. costs of acquiring, installing, rehabilitation and improvement of assets (e.g. site preparation);
  3. costs of material and supplies, and their installation;

Contracted services

  1. professional or specialized services needed to undertake eligible project activities and for which contracts are entered into, such as accounting, communications, official languages translation, audit, energy savings estimate verification, and results monitoring, measuring and reporting;
  2. costs of planning and assessment, such as surveying, engineering, architectural supervision, testing, and management consulting services. The Goverment of Canada will only contribute up to a maximum of 5% of its total contribution to the project towards these costs;
  3. costs of performing activities related to the project by contractors;
  4. costs of contracted work related to compliance with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 including engineering and environmental reviews, costs related to an environmental assessment and the costs of mitigation measures, follow-up, and remedial activities identified in any environmental assessment;

Salaries/ Benefits

  1. the incremental costs of the applicant’s employees may be included as eligible expenditures. Canada will only contribute up to a maximum of 2% of its total contribution to the project towards these costs provided that:
    1. the applicant is able to demonstrate that it is not economically feasible to tender a contract and clearly demonstrate that there is value for money in using internal employees;
    2. the employee is engaged directly in respect of the work that would have been the subject of the contract; and
    3. the arrangement is approved in advance and in writing by the Goverment of Canada.

Other direct project costs

  1. licenses and permits;
  2. leasing and/or purchase of equipment related to the project;
  3. training costs related to new technologies, equipment, software and systems;
  4. costs related to the consultation of Indigenous Peoples, specifically project-related consultation activities arising as a result of the Government of Canada’s legal duty to consult, where applicable;
  5. costs directly associated with joint federal communication activities (e.g. press releases, press conferences, translation) and with project signage related to funding recognition;
  6. travel expenditures (including the cost of accommodations, vehicle rental and kilometric rates, bus, train, airplane or taxi fares, allowances for meals and incidentals). The Goverment of Canada will only contribute up to a maximum of 5% of its total contribution to the project towards these costs. Of note, travel and per diem expenses cannot be more than the rates and allowances determined in the Travel Directive of the National Joint Council; and
  7. provincial sales tax, goods and services tax, or harmonized sales tax for which the applicant or a third party is not eligible for a rebate, and any other costs that are ineligible for rebates

 

Eligible Projects under Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF)

Agricultural retrofits

  • Changes to agricultural processes to improve energy efficiency
  • Fuel switching to lower emitting energy sources in agricultural operations
  • Other energy efficiency measures in the agricultural sector

Building retrofits

  • Enhancements to building envelope (with direct energy savings), including energy efficient windows/doors/skylights, increased insulation, weatherproofing, and glazing
  • Energy efficient lighting system
  • Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment/systems/controls
  • Water heating retrofits, including high efficiency condensing water heating
  • High efficiency motors and controls
  • Energy management controls, including building automation systems
  • Fuel switching to lower emitting energy sources in existing buildings

Electricity, energy or fuel production

  • District energy (heating and/or cooling)
  • Combined heat and power for own use*
  • Renewable energy systems (e.g. solar photovoltaic, wind energy, micro-hydro, stand-alone storage systems) on-site and for own-use*
  • Low-emission fuel production for own-use*

Industrial process improvements

  • Retrofitting and upgrading of existing equipment used for industrial processes
  • Fuel switching to lower emitting energy sources
  • Process changes
  • Waste-heat recovery

Transportation retrofits

  • Heavy-duty vehicle retrofits, including energy efficiency and/or fuel switching to lower emitting sources
  • Marine vehicle retrofits, including energy efficiency and/or fuel switching to lower emitting sources

Waste

  • Energy efficiency measures in waste management

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