Alberta already has the expertise, workforce, and demand to scale building retrofits. What's missing is a consistent, predictable system that makes projects easier to finance and deliver. Utility-led demand-side management (DSM) programs can provide that system.
These programs help buildings use less energy, lower costs, and improve performance while reducing strain on the electricity grid. Across Canada, they are a proven, cost-effective tool for scaling retrofit activity. In this report, we explore how DSM programs support building retrofits in other provinces and why Alberta’s existing programs have not yet shifted the market at scale. We also examine what contractors, building managers, and industry organizations say they need to participate, and how DSM programs could be designed to work effectively within Alberta’s context.
Why DSM programs matter now
Retrofitting buildings isn't just about energy — it's about affordability, comfort, resilience and jobs. A strong retrofit sector can lower operating costs for homes and businesses, improve comfort and long-term building performance, reduce peak electricity demand and defer grid upgrades, and create high-quality, local jobs in construction and trades. But despite existing programs, most retrofit decisions in Alberta still happen without program support.
What works elsewhere, and what Alberta is missing
In provinces where utilities lead DSM programs, support is continuous rather than short-term funding windows, and spans the full project lifecycle — from assessment to implementation. Incentives meaningfully reduce upfront costs, improving project viability, and energy savings are coordinated with grid needs, lowering system costs. Building owners get clear financial value, and utilities manage demand more efficiently.
Alberta's current programs have helped individual projects, but they haven't yet reached the scale or consistency needed to shift the market.
The opportunity
Alberta is not starting from zero. The people, projects, and expertise already exist. What's needed is alignment: programs that match real-world decision-making, incentives that meaningfully reduce risk and upfront cost, and delivery models that are stable, transparent and easy to use.
By aligning with financial priorities, simplifying participation, and demonstrating results in practice, DSM programs can turn retrofit opportunities into bankable projects, build confidence across the sector and scale activity over time.
Explore how utility-led DSM programs could work in Alberta — and what it will take to make them relevant, practical and effective.
The Pembina Institute wishes to thank the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation for their generous support.
