Hello, everyone. Minister Dabrusin, Élisabeth Brière, Marianne Dandurand, Louis Villeneuve.
It’s such a beautiful time of year.
Apple season. Fall colours. The return of hockey. We’re already expecting a final between the Canadiens and the Oilers.
It is also Thanksgiving.
This weekend, Canadians will gather with their friends and family.
We have many things to be thankful for: the people around our table. Communities that stick together. And a country that knows how to face challenges.
In Québec, and all across Canada, we are taking action. We are choosing to build together.
In Québec, we are building big.
In Contrecœur: a Port of Montréal with 60% more capacity so we can ship more of our products around the world.
At Matawinie: the largest graphite mine in the G7.
In Lévis: six new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard, built at the Davie Shipyard. The largest shipbuilding contract in Québec’s history.
And when Canada builds, Québec builds, too.
New VIA Rail passenger cars mean good jobs in La Pocatière and Saint-Bruno.
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada’s (GDLS-Canada) new fleet of armoured vehicles means good jobs in Saint-Laurent.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ (TKMS) new submarines mean good jobs in Montréal.
GlobalEye’s new surveillance aircraft mean good jobs in Dorval at Bombardier.
And everywhere in Québec, nearly $10 billion from the federal government will be invested in new transit projects, hospitals, housing, and community centres. It’s one of the largest federal infrastructure investments in Québec’s history.
And when Canada establishes new partnerships abroad to make Canada stronger, more independent, and more prosperous, Québec benefits.
Canada is now the world’s most connected economy, with access to a market of 1.5 billion consumers, with no tariffs.
Over the next six months, we will be doubling this number through new trade agreements.
In three weeks, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, will be in Montréal. That is where Canada will launch a new, transformative alliance with the European Union, an alliance that will create tremendous opportunities for Québec.
This is how we are building a strong Québec in a strong Canada: in a true spirit of cooperative federalism.
This is building our strength. This is independence. This is sovereignty, so we can live our lives as we choose.
With our languages, our culture, for our future.
All across Canada, there is a new energy, a new confidence. We are masters in our own home.
But to be masters in our own home, we must first be warm in our home.
Canada strong starts in a warm home.
Heating is one of the biggest bills Canadians pay in winter. Too often, that money goes to the most expensive options.
Over one million households in Canada still heat with oil, propane, or diesel. These fuel sources are more polluting, less efficient, and at the mercy of global markets.
Right now, those markets are hitting families hard. Heating a home with oil costs 70% more than it did in 2024: at least $2,500 more per household, every year.
Another six million households heat with electric baseboards and outdated electric furnaces. While those costs are not as volatile, these households are still paying more than they have to, up to 45% more.
Our government is laser-focused on giving Canadians options to lower their costs. That’s why we cut taxes for 22 million middle-class Canadians, and why we have introduced the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit for 12 million more. Thousands in savings when you need it most.
When it comes to saving on home heating, the best option for many Canadians is a heat pump.
Heat pumps are cleaner and safer than oil and electric furnaces. They are two to three times more efficient. The same warmth, for a fraction of the energy and far less pollution.
Heat pumps save Canadians money. On average, families heating with oil save around $2,000 a year, and those with electric baseboards will save $1,400 a year by switching.
And heat pumps work all year round. In the summer, they run in reverse to cool your home. Families get a furnace and an air conditioner in one.
Heat pumps have proven themselves. Twenty years ago, this technology wasn’t effective in really cold weather. But today’s models have been designed for Canada’s harsh winters. Even at minus 30 degrees, here in Sherbrooke, heat pumps keep families nice and warm.
Lower bills. Cleaner air. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer. That is – by far – the best way to power a Canadian home.
People hesitate to switch to a heat pump for two reasons: the cost and the need to act quickly.
We have the solution to both.
Today, I am proud to announce that our government is investing over $2 billion to help almost one million homes purchase a heat pump.
Here is how we will do it.
First, to lower the cost of a heat pump, we are launching a new national rebate program that will help over 800,000 households. Why does this matter? Because a heat pump costs more than a new furnace. But it costs much less to operate, so, over time, it pays for itself.
For example, take a family here in Québec that is replacing an electric furnace. A new electric furnace costs around $6,000. A heat pump costs around $15,000, that is, $9,000 more. With a heat pump, the family will save around $1,400 a year. Without financial assistance, it will take over six years to recoup that cost difference.
We are shortening that time. Through our new program, households will receive a $2,000 rebate, which reduces it to five years. Add the Hydro-Québec rebate of about $3,000, and now it takes only three years.
For below-median-income households, we will provide up to $10,000. By combining our program with provincial programs, these families will see a return on their investment from day one.
We have also simplified the process. You submit an application through an online portal – which will be accessible by January – without needing an energy audit, before or after.
Second, we are acting quickly with this program so Canadians can benefit when they need it the most.
Every year, about one million Canadian households replace their heating system. More than 80% of the time, it’s because the old system broke down without warning.
This may have already happened to you, your neighbours, or your friends: it’s January. It’s bitterly cold. You need to get the heat back on, and fast!
The old programs did not let you act fast enough when a furnace broke, because they were designed for planned work. Our new program solves that problem. Applications will be approved within 24 hours. And your heat pump can be installed as quickly as a furnace.
And no matter what kind of home you live in, our program is designed for you.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) will help apartment building owners do the work that makes the biggest difference in large buildings: heat pumps, better insulation, new windows, and more efficient heating and ventilation systems.
In total, nearly 300,000 homes will be better heated and will consume less energy.
And because major renovations are complex, we are investing over $100 million more in local teams that help building owners successfully complete their projects.
Let me give you the bottom line. Today, we are announcing more than $2 billion to deliver over one million home retrofits, lower energy costs, and additional energy savings for multi-unit buildings.
When fully taken up, these upgrades will save Canadian families more than $1 billion a year on their energy bills.
That’s a great return on investment.
There is another huge benefit to the measures we are announcing today, and that is reduced emissions.
Over the next few years, the heat pump installations and renovation projects we are supporting today will help reduce emissions by over 25 megatonnes. That is the equivalent of taking over eight million cars off the road for a full year.
This is possible because 80% of the electricity generated in Canada is already clean, and our electricity rates are some of the lowest in the G7.
And it’s possible because we have a plan to keep it that way: double our electricity generation.
Thanks to our National Electricity Strategy, we will generate more clean energy and better connect our networks from East to West and to the North.
A good example: in August, we supported a partnership between Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to launch the largest clean energy project in North American history, at Churchill Falls and Gull Island.
We are talking about 14 gigawatts of clean energy – the equivalent of a second James Bay. Enough to light, heat, and cool all of the homes in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, and Sherbrooke combined.
This project will shape an entire generation and will help make Canada a clean energy superpower.
This is cooperative federalism in action. This is a Canada that works.
Across the country, over the next few weeks, Canadians will be turning their heat back on. And as sure as Christmas follows Thanksgiving, over this winter, tens of thousands of those furnaces will stop working. Now these families will have a better option, and help to pay for it, right when they need it.
Because Canada strong starts in a warm home.
One change. Twice the benefits. A warm, cosy home at an affordable price, thanks to clean energy generated right here, at home.
Heating a home takes just one afternoon. Doubling the capacity of our electricity grid takes the work of an entire generation.
We are doing both.
Because to be masters in our own home, we must first be warm in our home.
Thank you, and happy Thanksgiving!