Blended Finance for Climate Action: A Made-in-BC Model
Urban Climate Leadership (UCL) is advancing a Made-in-BC Economic Development Strategy that positions the transition to heat pumps in low-rise multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) as a transformative opportunity for job creation and economic growth.
Central to this approach is the strategic combination of public, private, and philanthropic capital to unlock large-scale investment in building retrofits.
By aggregating an estimated 5,000 low-rise buildings across British Columbia, UCL creates the scale needed to attract institutional investors while reducing risk for individual building owners. Using a blended finance approach, government funding provides the catalyst, de-risking early investment and leveraging private capital from financial institutions, pension funds, and program-related investors.
This approach transforms the retrofit challenge from a cost burden into a vehicle for economic growth, affordability, and decarbonization.
At the core of this strategy is the proposed Deep Retrofit Investment Facility, as outlined in UCL’s pre-budget submission, designed to blend concessional public loans, private equity, and philanthropic grants into a unified investment structure.
Here’s how it works:
Government partners provide guarantees, credit enhancements, and low-cost capital to de-risk and attract private investment.
Philanthropic partners and targeted public programs contribute grants that fund concierge services, data platforms, skills training, and early project development.
Private and institutional investors, including pension funds, bring long-term, stable capital aligned with ESG and impact mandates.
These layers of financing enable cost-effective retrofits while maintaining affordability for residents.
The result: a scalable, replicable model that is anchored in British Columbia but adaptable nationally to deliver job creation, economic development, and affordable, healthy, and resilient homes for people living in apartments and condos.
By bringing together governments, the private sector, and non-profits, UCL is turning the retrofit challenge into a national opportunity, fueling a just, affordable, and climate-ready future across Canada.
We invite municipalities to share building portfolio data, corporate partners to strengthen local supply chains and manufacturing, and philanthropic funders to help de-risk early-stage projects that deliver community benefits.
Together, we can scale a retrofit economy that puts equity, innovation, and resilience at the centre of Canada’s climate transition.
