This article was published by The Energy Mix on Sept. 10, 2025.
As Prime Minister Mark Carney releases his first official list of large infrastructure projects of “national interest,” a broad wave of building retrofits could better meet his goals and stimulate the economy, decarbonization experts say.
“Simply speeding up approvals for a few infrastructure projects does not build us a new country,” write Chris Severson-Baker and Monica Curtis, the Pembina Institute’s executive director and senior director for communities and decarbonization, in a recent op-ed for The Hill Times. “Going bigger and broader—focusing on infrastructure that could directly improve the lives of literally every Canadian and aiming to help solve numerous crises at once—now that’s smart, strategic, and forward-thinking nation-building.”
Their suggestion comes as the Carney government establishes processes to advance major infrastructure projects deemed in the national interest by streamlining their approval. Via the Building Canada Act, the government can designate such projects, and then issue a single federal authorization that replaces other federal permits, decisions, and authorities that would normally be required.
Passed on June 20 within a month of being introduced, the act has drawn criticism from environmental groups and First Nations, all warning that it risks bypass protections for ecosystems and Indigenous rights.
Severson-Baker and Curtis say the government should think differently about nation-building, especially when “there’s a nation-building initiative waiting in the wings.” Retrofitting homes and buildings affects how Canadians use energy every day, they argue, while delivering healthier, safer indoor spaces, more resilience to severe weather, and lower heating and cooling costs.
“Great big single projects and megaprojects have their place, and they are important, but we do want to make sure that we’re thinking about nation-building as more than megaprojects,” Curtis told Green Energy Futures. That means smaller, less time-intensive projects that can have a more direct impact on Canadians.
Retrofits and energy efficiency investments align with the goals of the Building Canada Act, Severson-Baker and Curtis add. They support “made-in-Canada” energy resources like rooftop solar and battery storage while creating long-term, local jobs. “Investments in retrofitting buildings can generate $7 in GDP growth for every $1 invested.”
“What if we looked at nation-building not only via single projects, with a primary proponent, location, and outcome? What if we developed nation-building programs—like retrofits for multi-family units—addressing many societal needs at once, and in the process creating a wave of economic activity, including new Canadian industries and supply chains?”
Efficiency standards and federally supported retrofit programs meet the criteria for projects of national interest, including strengthening autonomy, resilience, and security, providing economic or other benefits, bearing a high likelihood of successful execution, and contributing to clean growth and to meeting Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change, they add.
“We see residential building retrofits as a nation-building opportunity—exactly the kind of project the Cabinet has been tasked with prioritizing,” write Raidin Blue and Sarah Snowdon, Pembina analyst and senior communications lead, in a separate op-ed.
A Canada-wide renovation wave focused on deep retrofitting building stock can lower heating and cooling bills, improve housing affordability, and create up to 200,000 jobs, they say. And ramping up retrofits could deliver $48 billion in annual economic development over 20 years—paying for themselves “twice over through increased tax revenue.”
Neither post specifies how retrofits will advance the interests of Indigenous peoples, one of the criteria for identifying national interest projects. However, organizations like Indigenous Clean Energy have advanced building retrofit programs—like the Bringing it Home Project—as a way to address health and housing affordability issues in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.
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