The Low Carbon Economy Fund (LCEF) has recently opened applications for the Low Carbon Economy Challenge (LCEF-LCEC), an initiative aimed at harnessing Canadian ingenuity to combat greenhouse gas emissions and foster sustainable growth. This endeavour is aligned with Canada's clean growth and climate action plan, as outlined in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

The Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program facilitates the adoption of transformative technologies and products in the Canadian forest sector by bridging the gap between development and commercialization. The program aims to create a more competitive, resilient, and environmentally sustainable sector with a focus on innovative, low-carbon projects that result in new or diversified revenue streams.

As part of its 2023 renewal, the IFIT program will increase its efforts to help improve the environmental performance of the forest sector by supporting demonstration and adoption projects that contribute to the decarbonization of industrial processes, as well as the efficient use of resources that generates more value from the same amount of wood. In addition to continuing to fund projects that produce renewable energy and sustainable bioproducts, IFIT will seek to invest in projects that integrate technologies leading to greater energy efficiency and explore bioenergy carbon capture in forest sector operations. These investments will enable the next wave of innovation, solidifying Canada’s position as a leader in forest sector transformation.

The Ontario Forest Biomass Program has been developed to enable the province to achieve the objectives set out in Sustainable Growth: Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy and the provincial Forest Biomass Action Plan (FBAP). In particular, the program will focus on supporting initiatives that secure and increase long-term wood utilization across the province, focusing on underutilized species and forest biomass.

The establishment of the program is part of Ontario’s commitment to the development and use of wood and forest biomass to deliver economic benefits to Ontarians while helping to reduce emissions and address climate change.

The program has four streams that will position Ontario as a growing circular and green economy leader.

• Indigenous bioeconomy partnerships stream: Increase Indigenous participation in forest biomass opportunities and benefit from bioeconomy development.
• Exploring biomass pathways stream: Improve public and private sector understanding of the technical, financial, scientific and operational considerations for use of forest biomass.
• Innovative bioproduct manufacturing stream: Deploy innovative bioproducts and facilitate increased use of forest biomass as a feedstock in manufacturing, infrastructure, energy services and resource extraction sectors.
• Modernization stream: Support forest sector transformation, competitiveness, and participation in emerging bioeconomy opportunities through use of forest biomass.

The Rural Transit Solutions Fund seeks to help Canadians living in rural and remote areas get around their communities more easily for their day-to-day activities, and connect with other communities nearby.

People living in rural, remote, Northern, and Indigenous communities often depend on private vehicles for transportation and often lack access to transit options. Additionally, people without access to private vehicles or who are unable to drive are isolated from essential services or are unable to travel with ease within their own community or to visit nearby communities.

The Rural Transit Solutions Fund is the first federal fund to target the development of transit solutions in rural and remote communities. Launched in 2021, the Fund provides $250 million in federal funding over 5 years to support the development of locally-driven transit solutions that will help people living in rural communities get to work, school, appointments, and to visit loved ones.

The program aims to create an enabling environment for the development and adoption of clean technology that will help drive the changes required to achieve a low-carbon economy and promote sustainable growth in Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector.

The Adoption Stream supports the purchase and installation of commercially available clean technology or equipment upgrades that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG), fertilizer and methane emissions.

The new intake will be more ambitious in terms of reducing GHG emissions and will also emphasize support for measurable fertilizer and methane emission reductions in line with Government of Canada targets. Where possible, project submissions will be prioritized according to higher GHG, fertilizer or methane emission reductions.