On April 25, the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC-CMM) adopted a regulation to ban the use of natural gas from new construction sites entitled: REGULATION RESPECTING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS. (1)
It has been adopted but not is yet in force because it must first be approved by the Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change. The CMM wants this regulation to come into force on January 1, 2025.
3. This regulation applies to the 82 municipalities forming part of the territory of the Community and concerns: a) any new building; (b) any type of facility used for recreational purposes such as a spa or a swimming pool.
PROHIBITIONS
7. It is prohibited to install, cause to be installed or allow to be installed, in a building referred to in section 3, a space heating device or water heating appliance, including water from accessories such as a swimming pool and a spa, that emits GHGs attributable to combustion.
10. The following appliances are not covered by these Regulations: (a) mobile fuel-burning appliances that are used intermittently outside the building envelope, such as a barbecue; (b) emergency power supply systems; (c) appliances used for cooking food; (d) temporary heaters used during construction work; (e) appliances and fireplaces for the use of solid fuel; (f) appliances subject to the Regulation respecting oil heating appliances (CQLR, chapter Q-2, r. 1.1).
This ban will increase electricity consumption in the greater Montreal area. And the question is whether Hydro-Québec will be able to handle this major influx of new constructions, all of which will be electric. Hydro-Québec is reassuring; we will have to wait however until the winter of 2024-2025 to see the first impacts. According to Énergir, 100 new constructions are carried out each year in Montréal.
But all this will have to be verified if the Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change approves this regulation.
Minister Benoit Charette said in November 2023(2): “This exit from oil, gas and coal is essential for the respect of the climate commitments we made under the Paris Climate Agreement, and the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that lead us towards carbon neutrality.”
“Mr. Charette also recalled the CAQ Government's decision to put an end to oil and gas exploration in Québec, after years of debate on a possible start of this industrial sector. Québec also consumes natural gas and this resource, like oil, is imported.”
We will have to follow the Government’s policies with imported gas, as other rules could change to reduce its use.
(1) https://cmm.qc.ca/documentation/reglements/reglement-sur-les-emissions-de-gaz-a-effet-de-serre-des-batiments-residentiels-commerciaux-et-institutionnels/
(2) https://www.ledevoir.com/environnement/802956/benoit-charette-espere-declaration-sortie-energies-fossiles-cop28