The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, along with Joanne Thompson, Member of Parliament for St. John’s East, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, today announced cost-shared funding of over $4.2 million, in support of the City of St. John’s Corporate Climate Plan, which will see infrastructure upgrades to various city-owned buildings, improving energy efficiency and transitioning from oil to electricity.

The funding will be used to support improvements at seven city owned facilities: St. John’s City Depot, St. John’s Animal Shelter, Buckmaster Circle Centre, Riverhead, Mary Brown’s Centre, 245 Freshwater Rd, Works Depot and Central Fire Station. These combined measures will reduce oil use by more than 232,000 litres/year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 672 tonnes annually.

The City of St. John’s received $1,696,852 from the Federal Government and $1,413,902 from the Provincial Government. This funding was provided through Newfoundland and Labrador’s Climate Change Challenge Fund program which is part of the $89.4 million Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund, a joint initiative between the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The City of St. John’s contributed $1,131,376 towards this initiative as part of its broader $6,661,630 investment to improve energy performance in 17 facilities.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Climate Change Challenge Fund is a competitive grant-based program to fund greenhouse gas reduction projects. The fund supports projects that lower greenhouse gas emissions and is available to organizations across commercial, municipal, not-for-profit sectors and Indigenous Governments and organizations.

Quotes
“Every action taken to address climate change in our province contributes to the development of a green economy, moving Newfoundland and Labrador forward both environmentally and economically. The Provincial Government is pleased to support the City of St. John’s with this significant initiative and their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating more energy efficient facilities.”
Honourable Bernard Davis
Minister of Environment and Climate Change

“By working with the City of St. John’s, we can help the community save money on monthly operating costs and grow the economy, all while fighting climate change. Through the Low Carbon Economy Fund, the Government of Canada is partnering with climate leaders nationwide to cut emissions—and will continue to do so through a renewed commitment of an additional $2.2 billion, an important part of Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. I applaud the leadership shown by the City of St. John’s for helping to keep our air clean and build resilient communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Joanne Thompson
Member of Parliament for St. John’s East, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

“I thank our provincial and federal government leaders and industry partners, as funding to support this multi-million-dollar project is available through the Low-Carbon Economy Leadership Fund. With this project, other ongoing improvements to the city’s buildings, and the provincial government efforts to implement a low-carbon electricity grid, the City of St. John’s is on track to achieve over 70% of our Corporate 2030 target before 2025. The city’s contribution will be recovered over a 15-year term with the energy cost savings that we will achieve.”
Danny Breen
Mayor of the City of St. John’s

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Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund

Low Carbon Economy Fund

Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan: A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy