Energy poverty in Canada – An overlooked health and equity issue

 February 21, 2024

Energy poverty as a predictor of poor health

 On February 20^th, McGill University issued a media release showcasing groundbreaking research underway focusing on the challenges, and reality, of energy poverty.  Their research represents the first in-depth and targeted study on energy poverty in Canada.

https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/energy-poverty-canada-355502

The numbers are staggering – here are a couple of excerpts from the media release:

“As many as one in five Canadian households can be considered to be in energy poverty, according to researchers from McGill University. Energy poverty occurs when households cannot afford or access the levels of energy necessary to meet their daily needs, live decent lives, and maintain healthy indoor temperatures all year round. More Canadians potentially suffer from energy poverty than from food insecurity.”

“The research also shows that there are higher levels of energy poverty in rural areas in Canada, where the population tends to be older, living in larger households, and facing greater income insecurity. ‘For example, we found that in a small town in Nova Scotia, where around 40% of the population faces energy poverty, one household in three reported having to cut into their grocery spending to pay their utility bills,’ adds Laurianne Debanné, a PhD student in Health Geography at McGill who has been studying energy poverty in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, for the past three years.

At a high level, the challenges of energy poverty in Atlantic Canada have been well documented, as captured in the following article:

https://environbuzz.com/energy-poverty-in-canada/

An estimated 40% of Atlantic Canadians households are dealing with energy poverty, defined as spending more than 6% of their after-tax income on home energy services. Combined with rapidly escalating energy costs in Atlantic Canada (including proposed double digit electricity cost increases this year and next year here in New Brunswick), we have a serious economic, social and health problem.

How do we address this issue?  In my view, there is no one simple solution, and it will not be solved by blanket federal or provincial policy initiatives or programs. It will require grassroot collaborative efforts at the community level.  It will require local resources and solutions.

McGill’s research project, in cooperation with the Town of Bridgewater, the McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative, and the Canada Research Chair in Housing, Community and Health, provides a valuable case study and some sound recommendations and learnings on measuring and tracking energy poverty, as well as the replicability and scalability of the Energize Bridgewater initiative.

Energize Bridgewater is a multi-component, community-wide program aiming to improve energy security for those involved in the program, and for the community as a whole. The program is unique in Canada with the mission to help lower energy costs for Bridgewater’s homeowners, tenants, landlords, and businesses – “Everyone wins when nobody gets left behind”.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the Energize Bridgewater initiative, as well as the groundbreaking research efforts at McGill University to link energy poverty to broader health and societal issues.

The federal government and provincial governments need to do a much better job recognizing the roles of municipalities and communities in decarbonizing our energy systems and leading the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, including efforts to proactively deal with the challenges associated with energy poverty.