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The State of Energy Efficiency in Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency Report 2006

Improving Energy Efficiency

The Office of Energy Efficiency Approach

Guided by the vision statement "Leading Canadians to Energy Efficiency at Home, at Work and on the Road," the Office of Energy Efficiency's (OEE's) programs target all energy consumers and emphasize partnerships and economic investments. The OEE uses five basic policy instruments to overcome market barriers to improving energy efficiency in the energy end-use market:

• leadership by the Government of Canada in reducing emissions from its own use of energy;
  
  
• information programs to advise energy users of the benefits of energy efficiency and to increase awareness, acceptance and adoption of energy-efficient technologies and practices;
  
  
• voluntary programs that support actions by energy users to improve their energy efficiency;
  
  
• direct financial incentives to encourage investment in energy-efficient buildings and building retrofits in order to stimulate more rapid deployment of energy-efficient technologies and practices; and
  
  
• regulations that set minimum performance standards to eliminate less energy-efficient products from the market.

The OEE maintains strong links with Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan's) research and development programs for advanced energy-efficient technologies. It works closely with NRCan's CANMET Energy Technology Centre to ensure that Canadians are kept abreast of technology developments that can either reduce the consumption of fossil fuels or enable the transition to less greenhouse-gas-intensive energy sources, including renewable energy.

The OEE manages energy efficiency and alternative transportation fuels measures aimed at all sectors of the Canadian end-use energy market. The following sections identify market trends and outline the efforts made and progress achieved by the OEE's programs.