Yukoners who want to make their homes and businesses more energy-efficient can now get some help covering upfront costs through a new government loan program.

The Better Buildings program was announced at a news conference Tuesday morning.

It will allow property owners, both residential and commercial, to borrow money for energy-efficient retrofits like improved insulation, air sealing, and heat pump installations on their buildings.

“The Better Buildings program provides low-cost funding for reducing home or buildings’ energy use,” John Streicker, the minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, told media.

“By providing this funding, we’re making it more accessible and affordable for home and property owners to complete energy-efficient retrofits to their homes and their buildings.”

The program is part of the Yukon’s climate strategy, Our Clean Future, which says heating buildings accounts for 21 per cent of the territory’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

The government hopes Better Buildings will help Yukon achieve two major goals laid out in that plan: reduce the territory’s GHG emissions by 30 per cent of what they were in 2010, and complete 2,000 residential, commercial and institutional energy efficiency retrofits, both by 2030.

For those who want to retrofit, but don’t know where to start, the Energy Solutions Centre is available to advise property owners on the energy-efficient options for their homes.

Once an assessment has been made, a senior energy advisor from the centre will help applicants move forward based on their budget and wants.

The territory’s municipalities, however, will have to sign on to the program before most Yukoners can access the new program.

The Village of Haines Junction has signed an agreement with the territory, and the government says Whitehorse and Watson Lake are committed to signing.

Teslin Mayor Gord Curran told the Star they’ve also voted to commit to the program.

The remaining municipalities still need to sign before their constituents can get the new loan.

People living outside municipal borders will be able to apply through the Yukon government directly.

Property owners will be able to borrow up to 25 per cent of their property’s assessed value – though residential loans will be capped at $50,000 and commercial loans at $100,000 – for retrofits.

Approved applicants must pay a one-time $500 administrative fee.

They will then repay the loan through local improvement charges added to their annual property taxes. The loan is provided at the interest rate set by the Bank of Canada.

Should a property owner sell his or her home before the loan has been repaid in full, the new owners would continue to repay the remaining loan on their property taxes.

With inflation on the rise, Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn was asked if Yukoners might be concerned that the interest rate is tied to the number set by the Bank of Canada. Its lending interest rate rose to 3.75 per cent today, the sixth time it’s gone up since March, when it was 0.25 per cent.

“Interest rates have gone up a little bit,” Mostyn acknowledged. “But I think this program still is offering Yukoners the very cheapest loan program they can get. Certainly a lot cheaper than doing it on your own.

“And that, coupled with some of the rebate programs we’ve got, should make it affordable to a great many Yukoners,” the minister added.

“We’re going to allow people to make their homes more efficient, either through heating or through just making them better-insulated. And that will reduce the cost going forward.”

Later Tuesday, Yukon Party MLA Patti McLeod also asked Mostyn about the interest rate in question period, wondering if Yukoners will want to take out another loan right now.

She is concerned about how that could affect the territory’s target of 2,000 retrofitted buildings. As well, she wondered who would pay for defaulted loans – municipalities or the territory.

NDP Leader Kate White asked if 25 per cent of a property’s assessment would be enough money for some Yukoners to meaningfully make their homes more efficient.

Mostyn didn’t respond directly to any of those questions.

Property owners will be able to save a little money if they sign up, though. They’ll qualify for the territory’s existing Good Energy rebates when they make energy-efficient upgrades through Better Buildings.