Atlantic Canada Deep Retrofit Roadmap

A comprehensive decarbonization strategy for buildings

The Atlantic Canada Deep Retrofit Roadmap brings together regionally grounded evidence and rigorous research to translate data into actionable and prioritized guidance. Built on energy modelling, building archetyping and lifecycle cost analysis across all four Atlantic provinces, it shows what is possible when we move from isolated retrofit studies towards repeatable, archetype-grounded intelligence. It is the first region‑wide deep retrofit framework for Atlantic Canada.

The central finding is about the retrofit value gap. Up to 75% energy reductions are technically achievable across all modelled archetypes, but the energy and other benefits from deep retrofits sit outside financial realities and investment decision frameworks used by building owners.

The Atlantic Canada Deep Retrofit Roadmap covers both residential (Part 9) and commercial and institutional (Part 3) buildings, explore both Roadmaps below.

Part 3 Buildings

Commercial, Institutional, MURBs

Commercial, institutional, and multi‑unit residential buildings continue to contribute a significant and persistent share of the Atlantic Canada’s emissions – and that share has barely changed since 2018.

The Part 3 Retrofit Roadmap analyzes what deep retrofits can achieve across these building types and where the major constraints lie. The findings show that 60 to 75 percent energy reductions are technically achievable across all ten representative archetypes modelled and identify a clear financial gap: the full value of deep retrofits is not reflected in the tools building owners use to evaluate investments.

This report outlines the changes needed to unlock retrofit activity at a climate‑relevant scale.

Key Insights

These insights surface some of the major findings from the Part 3 Roadmap and provide a high‑level view of what deep retrofits could deliver for Atlantic Canada’s commercial and institutional buildings — and what it will take to get there.

already flowing into Atlantic Part 3 construction — just not toward retrofits.

energy reduction achievable across all 10 commercial building types through deep retrofits.

tCO₂e/yr cut from a single retrofitted retail strip — the highest GHG savings of any archetype.

needed to deep retrofit all Atlantic Canada Part 3 buildings by 2050.

Archetypes

The Part 3 Roadmap defines ten commercial, institutional, and multi‑unit residential archetypes representative of the region’s building stock. Explore these archetypes below and download the reports to see the findings for each:)

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Part 9 Buildings

Residential Buildings

Most residential homes in Atlantic Canada were built before meaningful energy codes existed. They are expensive to heat, increasingly exposed to extreme weather, and rarely assessed what a whole-building retrofit could actually deliver.

The Part 9 Retrofit Roadmap changes that. Modelling ten representative home types across every Atlantic province, it shows that deep retrofits can cut energy use by 50 to 80 percent – and that for most homeowners, the biggest long-term cost driver is not energy at all. It is deferred maintenance on aging systems.

Key Insights

These insights reveal the retrofit opportunity hidden inside Atlantic Canada’s residential building stock — from the aging homes that have never been touched, to the energy savings, cost reductions, and financial returns that deep retrofits make possible.

already invested annually in Atlantic residential construction — the capacity exists.

needed per year through 2050 to deep retrofit 65% of Atlantic Canada’s residential stock.

energy savings achievable across all ten home types and all four Atlantic provinces through deep retrofits.

Total Cost of Building Ownership for the 1970s split-level — the strongest financial case of any archetype modelled.

Archetypes

From single detached homes to small apartments, explore the ten Part 9 residential archetypes the Roadmap was built around and download the report for more insights: