Canadians see energy efficiency is an essential tool to deal with the rising cost of living, and more than three-quarters say it’s up to federal and provincial governments to help households seize the opportunity, Abacus Data reported late last week.

“Affordability is no longer just about the cost of getting into a home. It is about the cost of living in one,” the Ottawa-based opinion research firm stated last week, summarizing data it gathered for the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).

Rising utility costs and concerns about future energy prices “are shaping household decisions, influencing spending habits, and adding pressure to budgets that many Canadians already feel are stretched to their limit,” Abacus added. In overwhelming numbers, survey respondents said they “increasingly see energy efficiency as a practical way to lower costs, create more predictable household expenses, and improve affordability over the long term.”

The research found that half of Canadians pay out at least 50% of their monthly budgets for housing, 38% have “at least occasionally had to make trade-offs” between utility bills and other household essentials, and 31% have had to cut back on groceries—meaning that high energy costs have nearly one-third of Canadians making choices between food and fuel.

The findings create an opportunity for Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson to announce decisive, new energy efficiency measures when he co-hosts the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s annual energy efficiency conference in Montreal June 29-30, a leading energy efficiency policy expert told The Energy Mix.

“The IEA conference in Montreal is an opportunity for the federal government to launch energy efficiency as a nation-building project that can produce immediate benefits for people,” Brendan Haley, senior director of policy strategy at Efficiency Canada, wrote in an email.

“I can’t think of another public policy issue that sees support levels in the 70 to 90% range across age groups, regions, and voter groups,” he added. “It shows that Canadians would see a government agenda to help them save energy as meaningful and empowering.”

Food Or Fuel. Pick One.

Haley said he wasn’t surprised that so many Canadians sometimes find themselves choosing between food and fuel.

“The standard energy poverty metrics underestimate the problem because some people take offsetting actions such as reducing heat or air conditioning to prevent bills from getting too high,” he told The Mix. But “the wonderful thing about energy efficiency is that it is a practical solution, and Prime Minister Mark Carney was recently quoted as wanting solutions and not problems.”

For Efficiency Canada, that would mean increased funding for low-income energy efficiency, ensuring that middle-income Canadians can afford energy-efficient options when a furnace or an air conditioner breaks down, and “avoiding the boom-bust funding dynamic” in past energy retrofit programs.

CaGBC did not respond to a request for comment by the time The Mix went to virtual press Monday evening. But Abacus said “Canadians have given governments permission to act,” with 77% supporting government incentives to make energy-efficient housing more affordable and 86% in favour of tougher energy efficiency standards for new housing.

“Canadians are also clear about who they expect to lead,” the opinion research agency said: asked to rank six different sector players from most to least responsible, 55% of respondents put the federal government in the top two, and 49% did so with provincial governments.

“Public policy conversations often get stuck because there is disagreement about the problem, the solution, or who should act,” the report stated. “On this issue, there is a surprising amount of alignment. Canadians recognize the pressure. They see the value in doing something about it. And they expect governments to play a role.”

The survey of 2,350 Canadian adults, conducted between April 1 and 14, 2026, had a ±2.02% margin of error, 19 times out of 20.

Part of the Solution

The results indicate that Canadians increasingly see rising energy costs as part of the affordability problem, and energy efficiency as part of the answer, Abacus wrote. “When they hear the term ‘energy-efficient building’, the first thing that comes to mind is not climate or sustainability. It is cost,” the report stated. “More than half (54%) associate energy-efficient buildings with lower monthly energy bills, while 34% associate them with lower long-term costs. Environmental benefits matter, but they are not the leading association.”

The survey found that:

• 15% of Canadians are struggling financially, and another 33% say they’re just getting by. The financial pressure “is more acute among younger Canadians (30-44), renters, and lower-income households, the same groups that are often most exposed to rising housing and household costs.”

• 64% of renters, 68% aged 18-29, and 58% aged 30-44 said housing accounted for at least half of their household spending.

• 72% said their utility costs had increased over the last year, and 60% said those bills were a moderate or major financial burden.

• 85% of Canadians—including 95% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 91% in Alberta, and 87% in Ontario—were concerned about volatile energy prices. “At a time when many households are already carefully managing their finances, unpredictability has become a challenge in its own right,” Abacus wrote.

• 83% said affordable housing should be designed to reduce energy costs, and 91% said the new Build Canada Homes program should emphasize energy-efficient, resilient housing.

• 43% of respondents said they’d lowered their heating or cooling to control costs. 31% were spending less on groceries, and 38%—including 58% aged 18-29 and 53% aged 30-44—said they’d cut back on other household needs.

• 69% of respondents who were trying to reduce their energy use were hoping to reduce their monthly energy bills, and 41% wanted to prepare for rising energy costs, compared to 31% who said they wanted to protect the environment.

• 58% said living in an energy-efficient building would make a major or moderate improvement in their energy costs. “That is an important shift,” Abacus said. “For many Canadians, energy efficiency is no longer being understood primarily as an environmental choice. It is being understood as an affordability tool.”

• But most Canadians are not in a position to tap into the potential, with only 39% saying they would pay more up front for a more energy-efficient home. “While many households understand the long-term benefit of lower utility bills, they are making decisions inside the reality of today’s budget,” the researchers stated. “For households already stretched by housing, food, transportation, and other essentials, future savings may not be tangible to overcome immediate cost barriers.”

Cost of Living Dominates

Abacus Data Executive Vice President Eddie Sheppard said the survey results were consistent with other opinion research—including a separate Abacus survey two days after the CaGBC release that had 66% of Canadians identifying the rising cost of living as one of their top three issues and another 39% citing the economy, compared to 13% for climate change and the environment.

“When you look at the top issues facing Canadians today, cost of living and affordability dominates the conversation, and we see climate has fallen into that third tier of issues facing Canadians,” Sheppard told The Mix. “It doesn’t mean climate isn’t important still. It’s being out-shouted by those more dominant, pressing issues that are in the moment—like affordability and cost of living, dealing with Donald Trump and trade negotiations, as well as housing.”

The survey results point to a “strong understanding among Canadians that we need to balance the current pressures while also understanding the long-term outcome of climate,” he added, so that a focus on affordability delivers “the best of both worlds. It helps them with the current affordability challenges while also still delivering on the climate promises moving forward.”

Time to Show Results

Canadians are also looking to senior levels of government for help with a problem that is too big for households to tackle on their own. “Canadians understand that there’s only so much they can do,” he said. “When you look at retrofitting a home or new housing, obviously there’s a much higher price point associated with that, so there’s the need for incentives to help provide that entry point for Canadians to take on these technologies and approaches.”

With the IEA energy efficiency conference on the horizon, Sheppard said the time is fast approaching when governments will be expected to show results on energy efficiency and affordability.

Canadians are going to start judging action and outcomes more than promises,” he told The Mix. “So if an announcement were to be made or there was an opportunity to seize this, I think it needs to be tied to action.”

Charlotte Power, press secretary to NRCan Minister Hodgson, said the government “knows that improving energy efficiency is one of the most practical and effective ways to make life more affordable for Canadians. When homes and buildings use less energy, Canadians see it directly in lower monthly bills while also reducing emissions and strengthening our energy security.”

In an email Monday afternoon, Power cited the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program and Senate Bill S-4 as measures designed to take “concrete action to help Canadians save money,” adding that the government would be sharing program updates at the IEA conference.

By then, however, Hodgson may be on his way out as minister responsible for energy efficiency programs: A couple of sources told The Mix the federal Office of Energy Efficiency will soon be transferred to Environment and Climate Change Canada.