The government of the Canadian province of Quebec has announced a plan to phase-out fossil natural gas in residential, commercial and institutional buildings (new and existing) by 2040. The plan was designed in collaboration with energy distributors, and it provides improvements to regulations regarding oil furnace and renewable gas quotas to be distributed, which will be out for consultation in 2025.
Specifically, the local existent oil furnace regulations will expand their scope to prohibit the installation of natural gas furnaces in certain residential buildings (up to 600 m2 and up to three storeys), excepting in the Outaouais region (western Quebec) where the regional natural gas distributor Gazifère will file a decarbonisation plan for the entire buildings sector in January 2025 to be implemented in January 2026. On the other hand, distributors will be required to increase to 100% the amount of gas from renewable sources delivered to residential, commercial and institutional consumer,.
The measure aims to halve the province’s GHG emission from fossil fuels related to building heating in 2030 (compared to their 1990 level), considering all GHG emitting energies. Canada aims to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.