Energy Audits near you

You choose a service organization licensed by NRCan, and it sends a registered energy advisor to your home. According to NRCan, the advisor measures and collects data on all the elements of the house, including the insulation levels of the walls, ceilings and basement, the windows and exterior doors, and the ratings of the heating and cooling equipment, and takes photos of the exterior, the mechanical systems, the attic and any wood-burning appliances.

The EnerGuide rating is expressed in gigajoules per year (GJ/year), and NRCan notes that the lower the number, the better the home's energy performance. Ratings on the older 0 to 100 scale can't be converted to gigajoules, so a new evaluation is needed for an up-to-date label.

A blower door measures how leaky the house is overall; pinpointing the leaks takes other tools. NRCan's air leakage guide describes the infrared scanner, used together with a blower door test, as a powerful tool for locating air leaks and missing insulation, and notes that contractors may use smoke pencils while the blower door runs to trace drafts. A thermal camera shows surface temperatures as colours, so an empty stud cavity or a stream of cold air under a baseboard stands out on the screen.

Thermal imaging is a diagnostic aid, not a verdict. Images are most telling when there is a marked temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, and they need interpretation: a cold patch can mean missing insulation, an air leak or moisture. A thermal scan alone doesn't produce an EnerGuide rating, so if you need a label or a rebate, make sure you are booking a full evaluation by a registered energy advisor.

The report lists upgrades, but the order matters. NRCan calls air leakage control the most important retrofit and recommends considering it first, and insulating the areas the report flags usually comes next. Heating and cooling equipment comes later when possible, because a tighter, better-insulated house needs less capacity, and equipment sized for the old house can end up too big.

Programs change often, so confirm the rules on the official page before booking anything. Where a program requires a pre-retrofit evaluation, have it done before any work starts, and keep invoices and product details for the post-retrofit visit. When this page was reviewed, these programs were active:

EnerGuide evaluations are delivered by service organizations licensed by NRCan, which send registered energy advisors to homes. NRCan's online directory of service organizations for existing homes lets you search by the first part of your postal code or check a company's name. If you are joining a program such as Rénoclimat, check whether it requires an advisor or organization approved for that program.

NRCan states that only registered service organizations and energy advisors that you have contacted can schedule and invoice an EnerGuide evaluation, and that it never solicits by phone, email or in person to enter Canadians' homes. Treat an unsolicited call or knock offering a free government audit with suspicion, and book with an organization you found yourself.