jmcomic������������

VICTORIA – The annual , issued by the Building to Electrification (B2E) Coalition, shows B.C. has earned a “B” grade for 2025 when it comes to progress towards electrifying space and water heating and cooling systems in new and existing buildings.

“B.C. has made meaningful progress over the past five years in shifting buildings to clean power. We have the tools to make electrification the default, but scaling that progress will require tackling key challenges along with strong, consistent market signals,” said Mariko Michasiw, B2E program manager with the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre, in a statement.

“Modernizing codes, growing the workforce, retrofitting existing buildings and ensuring costs remain fair for households and businesses are critical to enabling a low-carbon building sector.”

Some of the measures highlighted include:

• In response to worsening climate impacts, such as heat waves, the . is requiring cooling measures in new buildings, such as heat pumps, while working to reduce carbon pollution from buildings.
• B.C. is working to address cost-of-living concerns by increasing the supply of housing and reducing building operational expenses.
• Modern heat pumps are efficient, affordable and provide a single heating and cooling solution for most climate zones, with recent data showing they’re being imported into B.C. at a greater rate than gas furnaces.
• The released in late 2025 has set out key recommendations for the province to reduce emissions and shift to clean power.

Other policy successes outlined by the coalition include:

• Zero Carbon Step Code moves forward — All new builds in B.C. are required to meet EL-1 and over 30 local governments have adopted higher-than-minimum levels, representing around 50 per cent of new building starts.
• The CRD launched a building benchmarking program to track, manage and reduce energy use and GHG emissions.
• The CleanBC Independent Review reaffirmed the need for strong market signals and co-ordinated action across government, utilities and industry.

Infrastructure and technology also had some high points in 2025, with the following:

• BC Hydro has updated its connections tariffs and distribution upgrades to address the cost concerns of delivering power to buildings.
• Manufacturers, suppliers and installers are phasing out high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants used in heat pumps.

But the coalition notes there are some obstacles hindering further progress, such as a lack of clear and consistent policy signals, which are essential for market transformation.

“Uneven implementation of CleanBC is creating uncertainty for industry and barriers for electrification,” the release notes, adding another challenge was “the removal of the consumer carbon tax in 2025,” as “the market lost a key signal — a price on pollution — reducing the incentive for clean power.”