Sustainable Home Program
Mortgage financing and conditional cashback for owner-occupiers renovating an eligible Quebec home or buying or building a certified energy-efficient new home.
Diese Finanzierungsmöglichkeit ist derzeit auf Englisch beschrieben.
Desjardins lends you money secured by your home, which you repay with interest. The programme can add up to CAD 500 cashback for eligible renovations, calculated from the mortgage amount refinanced and the home’s energy rating, or up to CAD 2,000 for a certified new home, based on the mortgage amount. Credit approval applies; the advisor verifies eligibility and the actual cashback.
For renovations, refinancing increases your mortgage borrowing. The extra amount can be no more than 80% of the home value determined by Desjardins, minus your existing mortgage balance, and depends on its financial assessment. Refinancing may involve prepayment charges, notary fees and property valuation fees.
Your repayment terms depend on the mortgage you choose. With an open mortgage, you can normally increase payments or repay without limits or penalties, although promotional offers can introduce prepayment penalties. With a closed mortgage, early repayment can incur a charge, but you can double the payments in your original agreement and repay up to 15% of the original mortgage amount each year without prepayment charges. An unused annual allowance cannot be carried forward.
One qualifying renovation example is sealing air leaks to reach the air-change target recommended in your Rénoclimat assessment report. The target measures how much outside air enters the home, and the final assessment checks the improvement.
Eligibility
You must own and occupy the home. Eligible property types are a detached single-family home, a row house, a semi-detached home or a residential rental property with no more than four units. You agree to keep your mortgage with Desjardins for five years to continue receiving programme benefits.
For renovations:
- Have a Desjardins mortgage or transfer your existing mortgage from another lender. Borrow at least CAD 10,000 extra for renovations, with a total mortgage of at least CAD 100,000.
- Meet Rénoclimat’s renovation conditions. The home must be in Quebec, built and habitable for at least 12 months, have no more than three above-ground storeys and a footprint of no more than 600 m². More than half its total floor area, including the basement, must be residential. It must have permanent foundations and be habitable year-round, with heating capable of maintaining 21 °C, electricity throughout, drinking water, sewage disposal, at least a bedroom and bathroom, and a kitchen with a sink and working ordinary oven. Commercial use requiring specialized equipment is excluded even if it occupies less than half the floor area.
- Obtain your own assessment before starting work, even if a previous owner already had one. Remain the owner from the first to the final assessment. If a participant dies, the estate can complete the work, but liquidation of the estate or sale outside the immediate family before the final assessment removes access to Rénoclimat assistance. The building exterior must allow an airtightness test; buildings that are too leaky, large or unusually configured can be refused. If health-risk materials prevent the test, an advisor can assess without it after you sign a waiver. Attached homes sharing air through a common roof, foundation or living space are assessed together.
- Complete qualifying work between assessments and improve the home’s EnerGuide rating. EnerGuide estimates annual home energy use minus energy produced, in gigajoules (GJ). Desjardins requires a final label of 90 GJ/year or less, confirmed by a Rénoclimat-approved advisor after the work. Under the old assessment route, you may do work yourself where the law permits. The same work cannot receive another grant from Quebec’s environment ministry.
- Work started before the first assessment is excluded. Extensions, electronic thermostats, air conditioning, heat pumps, geothermal systems, work on unheated attached spaces, garage doors/windows and replacement roof or exterior-wall coverings are excluded from Rénoclimat support. Where you combine an extension with improvements, the enlarged portion is excluded from the support calculation.
- For the currently available transition route, request the before-work assessment by 12 October 2026 and have the after-work assessment completed by 31 March 2027.
For a new home, buy from a builder or developer, or build your own home under a recognized certification programme. Desjardins recognizes Novoclimat, ENERGY STAR for New Homes and LEED Canada. Provide proof of certification rather than relying on a general claim that the home is efficient. For a new-home purchase, minimum financing is CAD 125,000. Cashback cannot count toward your down payment. For a new condo, certification first covers the whole building and then, where applicable, individual units.
How to apply
- Status
- Laufende Antragstellung
- Beschränkungen dieser Antragsrunde
- Mortgage applications are ongoing through the public mortgage team. The Rénoclimat renovation assessment transition requires a pre-work assessment request by 12 October 2026 and the post-work assessment completed by 31 March 2027. New-home financing is a separate branch.[^c5][^c6][^c16][^c17]
Call Desjardins’ mortgage financing team on 1-844-626-2476, or 514-745-9499 in Montreal. Discuss the Sustainable Home Program when applying to refinance for renovations or seeking mortgage pre-approval for a new home. Arrange the Desjardins mortgage and submit the required proof to your advisor to receive cashback.
For renovation assessments under the Rénoclimat transition, use the government’s assessment request form or call 1-866-266-0008. Request your before-work assessment by 12 October 2026, complete eligible work after that assessment and arrange the final assessment by 31 March 2027. Keep invoices, photos and other proof of work, including relevant manufacturer labels, until Rénoclimat assistance is paid. The first before-work assessment costs CAD 150 plus taxes, refundable when Rénoclimat assistance is paid; the after-work assessment is free, while cancellation or travel charges may apply. Give the Desjardins advisor the final EnerGuide label showing 90 GJ/year or less.
For a new home, give the advisor proof of recognized environmental certification. Final certification can arrive after you take possession, so cashback may follow later.