The Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) welcomes the Gouvernement du Québec’s announced goal of eliminating the use of fossil fuels to heat buildings in the residential, commercial, and institutional sectors by 2040. This is a decisive step in the energy transition process and is in line with recent initiatives by certain municipalities and the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM). It remains crucial, however, to allow municipalities to be even more ambitious in accordance with their local specificities.

“This is great news! Québec is announcing the beginning of the end of our dependence on fossil fuels to heat buildings, a major source of GHG emissions,” affirms Camille Cloutier, a lawyer with the CQDE. “But 2040 is still a long way off. It remains to be seen what discretionary power will be left to municipalities, what actions will be prioritized, and how they’ll unfold over time.”

Enabling municipalities to amplify climate action: a must

The CQDE points out that the regulation will establish minimum standards and that municipalities are free to adopt more stringent requirements. Some municipalities have already demonstrated their ability to act on this issue: the municipalities of Prévost, Candiac, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, and Montréal announced their own regulatory statutes in 2023. 

However, all municipal regulations must now be approved by provincial authorities if they “could impact energy distributors’ capacity to adequately meet consumers’ energy needs”, according to section 31 of the new Act. The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) has been awaiting approval for several months, although it has proposed a more ambitious timetable and has already validated the capacity with Hydro-Québec. The CQDE points out that it would be a pity if the January 1, 2025 implementation date set by the CMM were to be postponed due to delays on the part of provincial authorities. 

The organization therefore calls on Québec to encourage municipal climate leadership, not slow it down, by ensuring an efficient approval process.

A decisive forthcoming regulation to ensure concrete and rapid results

Ever since the Act respecting the environmental performance of buildings was adopted in the spring of 2024, the adoption of a regulation has been eagerly awaited, for it will set out concrete measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by buildings throughout Québec. In particular, the forthcoming regulation will specify the deadlines for phasing out fossil fuels in new and existing buildings.

The CQDE stresses that the government must choose the measures and timetable taking into account the concerns raised by numerous groups and experts. In particular, the Sortons le gaz! coalition has highlighted the important issues linked to bi-energy and the role of renewable natural gas (RNG), in terms of supply, cost, and real decarbonization potential.

The CQDE is looking forward to the publication of the draft regulation and would like to remind all interested parties that it will then be possible to submit their comments with an eye to influencing the final version of the regulation.