What support does the Deep Retrofit Accelerator for Indigenous Communities program provide to Partner Communities? 

The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), has partnered with Indigenous-owned The LEAP Group to offer consulting services including: 

• Project Funding Research and Application Support 
• Energy Efficiency Assessments  
• Renewable Energy Opportunity Assessments 
• Deep Retrofit Opportunity Identification 
• Project Planning Support  

What are the benefits for Partner Communities?

• Support securing funding to modernize community buildings through deep retrofit projects.
• Funding to hire a part time Energy Champion from the community to support the project.
• Energy Assessments conducted on the community’s commercial, institutional, industrial and multi-unit residential buildings.
• Participation in various community engagement and capacity building activities.
• Participation in virtual learning circles to network and share knowledge. 

What are the expectations from Partner Communities? 

• Appoint or hire an Energy Champion to support project activities (fully funded by the project).
• Provide CIER and LEAP staff access to community buildings. 
• Share energy consumption information (energy bills) to support energy assessments and modelling. 

What are the project deliverables?

• Collaboration identifying funding opportunities, drafting and submitting funding applications.
• Energy assessments performed on the community’s buildings, energy assessment and retrofit opportunity reports completed to support funding applications.
• Capacity building activities to increase community understanding of energy consumption and emissions awareness, community members trained and familiar with energy assessments and deep retrofit opportunities, network opportunities within the community and with other communities. 

What are the project steps?

There are four distinct steps in the project: Partner Community Onboarding, Energy Profiling, Deep Planning, and Funding Research/Applications.  

What are the anticipated project timelines? 

Anticipated project duration is roughly one year from becoming a partner community to completion of project deliverables. 

Who is leading the Deep Retrofit Accelerator for Indigenous Communities program? 

CIER is Canada’s first Indigenous-directed environmental non-profit charitable organization, founded in 1995 by eight First Nation Chiefs from across Canada. CIER’s mission is to work in partnership with Indigenous communities to support and build sustainable Indigenous communities and a healthy environment. CIER focuses on meeting Indigenous communities needs by enabling our Indigenous partners to build on their strengths using valued traditional, local, and Western science methods. With a focus on building environmental capacity with Indigenous communities, CIER assists through educating, conducting research, and building skills to help Indigenous communities achieve their goals. 

The LEAP Group is an Indigenous-owned business that is passionately focused on serving Indigenous communities and commercial, institutional, and multi-family clients with energy efficiency assessments, project planning, project management, funding identification, financial analysis, grant management, and other technical support services. 

Why was the Deep Retrofit Accelerator for Indigenous Communities project developed? 

The Deep Retrofit Accelerator for Indigenous Communities program was developed to support the Government of Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP), a roadmap outlining a sector-by-sector path for Canada to reach its emissions reduction target of 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.  

How do we get involved? 

Interested communities are encouraged to contact CIER at [email protected] or directly apply by completing this application form.