Spruce Grove Clean Energy Improvement Program (Test)

The Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP), administered by Alberta Municipalities, makes energy efficiency upgrades more accessible for homeowners—so you can save on energy bills and enjoy a more comfortable, efficient home for you and your family.

CEIP offers flexible financing to help cover the upfront costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades, allowing homeowners to make improvements without the big upfront investment.

Quick facts

  • CEIP provides financing for up to 100% of the project costs.
  • The City of Spruce Grove provides a competitive interest rate of 3.5%.
  • The City of Spruce Grove offers a generous rebate of 7.5% applied directly to your Clean Energy Improvement Tax, reducing your total financing amount. One rebate is available per project.
  • Eligible upgrades must have a minimum total cost of $3,000 to qualify for financing, with a maximum of $50,000 available per property.
  • The program offers flexible repayment terms of up to 25 years, with the option to repay in full anytime—penalty-free.
  • Repayments are made through your property tax bill, and the financing remains tied to the property tax obligation (i.e., if you decide to sell your property, you can pay off the balance without penalty or leave the remaining balance with the property tax bill).

 

Preparation checklist

To avoid any interruptions or delays with your application, review program details and requirements below. 

✔️ Check your eligibility 

  • Participants must be the legal owner of an existing low-rise residential property located in Spruce Grove.
  • Participants must meet all requirements listed in the Terms and Conditions.

✔️ Inform all property owners of your intention to apply for CEIP financing 

All property owners will need to sign the Project Application Form and Program agreements. Additionally, one property owner needs to sign the Pre-Qualification Form and Upgrade Completion Forms. Ensure that you read the Terms and Conditions before applying. 

✔️ Check that your property is eligible for CEIP financing 

Residential properties must, at a minimum, be existing buildings that are either a: 

  • single or semi-detached house;
  • row house;
  • town home; or 
  • the residential portion of a mixed-use building or a multi-unit residential building. This may apply to buildings under three stories with a footprint of 600 square meters (6,458 square feet) or less. 

✔️ Check that you meet the minimum financial requirements & property tax requirements 

  • Your property tax is not in arrears, now or at any time in the last five years.
  • You do not have late tax payments on your home, or other homes you have owned, at any time in the past five years. 
  • You are in good standing with all other accounts with the City (e.g. utilities, permits, bylaws, etc.). 
  • Your home is not in foreclosure.
  • You are not in bankruptcy or receivership. 
  • You are current on all property-secured debt payments (e.g. mortgage, home equity line of credit). 

✔️ Check your mortgage agreement, insurance policies, and building policies, and have copies of each ready 

  • Check your mortgage lender as some mortgage agreements may require your lender's consent before you apply for CEIP financing. 
  • Your home insurance policy may cover the property's full value and must cover at least $1 million in personal liability insurance. 
  • If your property is within a building that includes shared facilities or common property (e.g., condo, row house, town house) and your project will impact shared facilities / property, include an approval letter from your condo board or building owner with your application.

✔️ Review the Pre-Qualification Form for the information you must include in your application 

  • You will need your property description and roll number. These are listed on your most recent property tax assessment notice. 

 

Application steps

Completing a clean energy improvement through CEIP follows these eight steps:

Step 1: Pre-Qualification

Read the CEIP Terms and Conditions. Complete the Pre-Qualification Form at myCEIP.ca. This confirms that you are your property meet the basic program qualification criteria. 

Step 2: EnerGuide home evaluation

Once pre-qualifies, schedule an EnerGuide home evaluation to learn about your home's energy performance. This will help you understand your priority options for home improvements. 

Step 3: Project application

Choose a Qualified Contractor at myCEIP.ca/directory and plan your project. Once complete, submit your Project Application to Alberta Municipalities. 

Step 4: Agreements

Once approved, you'll enter into a Clean Energy Improvement Agreement and Project Agreement. 

Step 5: Project installation

After signing Agreements, work with your Qualified Contractor to complete the improvements.

Step 6: Upgrade completion

Submit your upgrade completion forms as your improvements are completed. 

Step 7: Post-project EnerGuide home evaluation

After your project is complete, a post-project EnerGuide evaluation will provide a new rating and label based on your home's upgrades.

Step 8: Repayment 

You'll repay the project cost through your property tax bill as per your Clean Energy Improvement Agreement. 

Apply now!

 

Frequently asked questions

No. CEIP does not fund projects retroactively. Funding is only available for eligible projects after an application is approved, program agreements are signed, and the property owner has received an Installation Authorization Notice from Alberta Municipalities. 

Not usually. One of the benefits of CEIP is that, outside of paying for the EnerGuide Home Evaluation, residents won’t typically need to touch any of the money until their project is finished, at which point payments will be made directly through their property tax payments.

Exceptions would be if a contractor requires a deposit that is more than 30% of the cost of the upgrade or if the requested financing exceeds eligible amounts. In these cases, you will need to pay your contractor for amounts not paid by the program. You may, however, be reimbursed for some or all of these costs when your project is complete. These details will be made clear when you sign the program agreements.  

Please visit the Alberta Municipalities website for details on becoming a CEIP Qualified Contractor, or watch the recorded Clean Energy Improvement Program Contractor Webinar.

The program cost will impact only those who choose to participate in the program and will not impact Spruce Grove taxpayers as a whole.

The City’s cost of borrowing (principal and interest) will be charged as a Clean Energy Improvement Tax to the individual property owners who participate in the CEIP.

The City’s administrative costs for the first four years of the residential CEIP will be funded through a grant from the Government of Canada. After that, administrative costs will be covered by the Clean Energy Improvement Tax paid by the property owners who choose to participate in the program.

The duration of the repayment depends on the effective useful life (EUL) of each eligible upgrade, which can be up to twenty years. EULs are listed on the Alberta Municipalities website under Residential Upgrades. Financing for each upgrade can also be paid in full at anytime without penalty. If you move during the financing repayment period, the new owner will assume responsibility for the remaining balances of the amounts owing, through the annual property tax bill.    

There are two considerations that affect the annual CEIP Tax on a participating property: 

  1. The annual CEIP Tax repayment for a participating property cannot exceed the annual property tax amount (Municipal and Education portions only) for the year in which the CEIP project is initiated.  
  2. The Effective Useful Life (EUL) of an upgrade will determine the total annual CEIP Tax. The financing term cannot exceed the EUL.  

Items like windows, doors, insulation, high efficiency furnaces, water heaters, and more! A full list of eligible energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades can be found on the Alberta Municipalities website under Residential Upgrades. 

More information and frequently asked questions are available on Alberta Municipalities’ website.

Questions?

Questions can be directed to hello@myceip.ca or by phone at 1-888-506-9996.

This program is administered by Alberta Municipalities, a not-for-profit association that works with elected and administrative leaders to advocate for solutions and supports communities by identifying and providing services that help them build resilient and thriving communities. This program is carried out with assistance from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, an endowment created by the Government of Canada. 

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