Climate change and its effects are recognised as important issues in Canada. One of the ways Canada is tackling climate change is through more sustainable development and Canada is one of the world leaders in green building practices. Green buildings prioritise energy efficiency, minimal environmental footprint, and resource conservation. These practices enhance a building’s performance and promote the occupants’ health and well-being. 

Statistics show an upward trend in green building in Canada and the market for sustainable building technologies and materials is expanding fast. In this article, we explore those statistics to provide an overview of what the green building industry looks like in Canada. 

Green Building Statistics for Canadians

  • Canada has over 16 million homes and almost 556,000 commercial and institutional buildings. 
  • The construction and running of buildings contribute around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. 
  • The green industry employs over 460,000 people in Canada.
  • In 2018, just 17% of jobs in the construction industry were related to green building. 
  • The gross domestic product of the green building industry was $47.9 billion in 2018. 
  • Only around 1% of Canadian buildings are being retrofitted each year when the requirement is 3% – 5% to meet the net-zero target by 2050. 
  • Canada ranks third in the world for LEED-certified building projects. 

Residential, Commercial, and Institutional Buildings in Canada

Canada has over 16 million residential buildings and in 2019, there were 555,951 commercial and institutional buildings in Canadian provinces. In total, they occupied a floor area of 709 million square meters and consumed 948.2 million gigajoules of energy. 

During the same year, the average Canadian household consumed 88.4 gigajoules per year. This shows that the total energy used by institutional and commercial buildings is equal to the yearly energy use of more than 10.7 million households. 

Restaurants are the most energy-intensive buildings among commercial buildings in Canada. Across all Canadian provinces buildings, where restaurants represented the main activity, had the highest energy use intensity at 2.58 gigajoules per square meter. The second highest intensity of 1.76 gigajoules was mong buildings where the main activity involved vehicle dealerships, repairs, and storage. The lowest energy intensities were found among museum and gallery buildings (0.85 gigajoules), schools (0.91 gigajoules), and medical office spaces (also 0.91 gigajoules). 

Building Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The building sector is responsible for approximately 13% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. If we include electricity generated off-site, the total emissions increase to around 18%. Even more emissions come from the supply chains and materials associated with the building sector. If we include these emissions the total emissions from the sector reach around 30%.

More than 78% of building emissions are created by water and space heating and most of it is because the heating equipment uses fossil fuels. Moving to electric or clean fuel water and space heating systems is essential for reducing the building sector’s emissions. 

Canada Is the Third in the World for Green Buildings

Globally, in 2022, Canada was the third in the world for LEED-certified buildings. Mainland China was ranked number one with 1,121 projects and 16,754,839.89 certified square meters. India was next with 323 projects and 10,471,771.39 certified square meters. 

Canada has 248 projects in 2022 and 5,341,924.69 square meters of certified building area. It was followed by Brazil and Sweden with 108 and 52 projects, respectively. 

Employment in the Green Building Industry

The green building industry creates around 462,000 jobs. The industry includes a wide range of roles such as engineering, architecture, design, data sciences, manufacturing, construction, and marketing jobs. 

Because the industry is growing, it means more jobs will be created in the future. According to the report Canada’s Green Building Engine by the Canada Green Building Council, there will be over 1,470,000 green building jobs in Canada by 2030. Ontario will have the biggest green building workforce, with around 526,000 workers, followed by Quebec with approximately 314,000 workers. 

Most of the jobs in the green building industry are in the construction and trades sector, which accounted for 46% of the jobs in 2018. Materials and manufacturing formed the second largest sector with 32% of the jobs. Policy and education accounted for 7%; professional services accounted for 11%; waste and recycling accounted for 3%; and utilities for 1% of the jobs within the green building industry. 

Only 17% of Building Jobs Were Green in 2018

In 2018, only 17%, or 210,668, of construction industry jobs were related to green building. Ontario had the highest proportion of green building-related construction jobs at 23%, followed by British Columbia with 19%. It is expected that the portion of green building-related jobs will increase dramatically by 2030. The estimate is that by then, around 57% of the jobs will be in the green building sector. 

Green Building Industry GDP

In 2018, the green building industry’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $47.9 billion, having almost doubled in four years from $23.4 billion in 2014. The construction and trades sector accounted for 40% and the materials and manufacturing sector for 31% of the GDP. Professional services contributed 16%; policy and education 7%; waste and recycling 4%; and utilities 2% of the GDP in 2018. 

According to the report by the Canada Green Building Council, by 2030, the building industry’s GDP will reach 150 billion in Canada. Ontario, as the largest province, will make the biggest contribution towards the industry’s GDP: approximately $60 billion. Next are Quebec and British Columbia with $31 billion and $20 billion, respectively. 

Retrofitting to Improve Building Efficiency

Retrofitting means updating a building so it is more energy efficient, safer, and more sustainable. This involves changing the existing systems that use fossil fuels to systems that use clean fuels or electricity. Often it also means incorporating renewable energy sources such as solar panels, enhancing insulation, and replacing windows and doors. 

At the current rate of retrofits, which is under 1%, Canada would need 71 years to retrofit all public and commercial buildings and 142 years to retrofit all residential buildings. This clearly is not fast enough. To retrofit all existing buildings by 2050 would require 3% – 5% of buildings to be upgraded each year and between $20 and $32 billion in investment annually. 

Canada Green Building Strategy

The goal of the Canada Green Building Strategy is to reduce the building sector’s emissions by 37% by 2030 compared to 2015. The ultimate goal is net-zero emissions by 2050. To reach this target Canada needs all new buildings to meet the green building standards and have retrofitted all existing buildings. 

The strategy aims for all new buildings to be net-zero carbon-ready ideally by 2027 but no later than 2032. All new buildings also need to be climate-resilient, too. The target for all new buildings to be climate-resilient is 2030. 

Benefits of Investing in Green Building

The main reason for ensuring new buildings conform to green standards and retrofitting existing buildings is to reduce the carbon emissions from the building sector. However, there are also other ways Canada will benefit from investments in the sector as it will create more jobs and make a bigger contribution towards the country’s GDP. 

In Canada’s Green Building Engine report, the Canada Green Building Council states that with no targeted intervention, the building industry’s greenhouse emissions will only be reduced by 22.5 Mt by 2030. With targeted intervention, the reduction will be 53 Mt by 2030. Targeted intervention would also mean that the number of jobs will increase to nearly 1.5 million compared to approximately 940,000 with no intervention. Similarly, targeted intervention will help to grow the sector’s GDP much faster to $150 billion by 2030 compared to $95 billion with no intervention. 

Green Buildings in Canada

Canada has emerged as one of the global leaders in the green building industry. Here are just some examples of green buildings in Canada. 

Place Victoria, Gatineau, Quebec

The building was constructed in 2013 and is LEED Platinum certified. It is estimated to consume 47% less energy than comparable buildings. Its green features include collecting rainwater to flush toilets, triple-pane windows, highly efficient heating, cooling, and ventilation systems, and increased insulation in the roof and walls. 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ‘E’ Division Headquarters, Surrey, British Columbia

This is a three-building complex for 2,400 Royal Canadian Mounted Police staff. It was finished in 2012, has LEED Gold standard certification, and is about 50% more energy efficient than similar buildings. The building uses the heat created by telecommunications and the data centre to provide hot water and heating to parts of the complex. 

Greenstone Building, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

This LEED Gold certified building was completed in 2007 and it is 50% more efficient than other comparable buildings. It has high-efficiency propane boilers and an air-cooled condensing chiller. It also utilises a glass curtain wall with embedded solar cells to collect solar power, which is used to, for example, heat hot water. 

Normand Maurice Building, Montréal, Quebec

The Normand Maurice Building is a government building that accommodates employees from 5 different federal agencies. It was completed in 2006 and has been LEED Gold certified. It consumes approximately 55% less energy than similar buildings. The green features used in the building include geothermal wells, a green roof, and radiant heating and cooling. 

Conclusion

Canada is one of the world leaders when it comes to the green building industry. However, more is still required if the country wants to meet its net-zero target by 2050. For example, the rate of retrofitting existing buildings to make them more efficient needs to increase to 3% – 5% per year. 

Canadian buildings, not including the manufacturing of materials and construction, are responsible for around 18% of the country’s greenhouse emissions. This can be reduced significantly by making the building more efficient and switching to green energy sources. However, focusing on green building is not only crucial for Canada’s aim for net zero, but it will also boost the economy by creating more jobs and contributing more towards the country’s GDP. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Canadian buildings create about 13% of the country’s greenhouse emissions not including energy created elsewhere, the construction of buildings, or the manufacturing of materials. If these are included, then buildings in Canada contribute around 30% of the greenhouse emissions.

In 2018, there were over 460,000 jobs related to the green building sector in Canada. With targeted intervention, there could be almost 1.5 million hobs in the green building sector by 2030.

The Green Building Strategy in Canada aims to have all new buildings ready for net zero by 2032 at the latest.

Retrofitting means updating existing buildings so that they meet green building standards. This usually means updating the HVAC systems, improving insulation, and switching to greener energy sources, such as wind power or solar energy.

Each year around 1% of Canadian buildings are retrofitted to make them into green buildings. However, to meet Canada’s net zero target, this rate has to be faster, between 3% and 5% per year.