Solar financing in Canada goes private and provincial
Canada’s post-Greener Homes Loan solar market is moving from federal grants to provincial programs and private lending partnerships, led by Financeit and Charge Solar, as provinces decide whether — and how — to support rooftop solar adoption
Solar financing in Canada is shifting away from the tapped-out federal grant and loan model to a system managed by the provinces that involves private sector lending. The shift enables provincial governments to emphasize solar — or not — and has quickly led to innovative private sector partnerships between solar companies and lenders. Among these, Financeit in partnership with Charge Solar, are offering a notable response to the solar finance market in Canada.
Out with the old program, in with the new
The federal Greener Homes Grant/Loan (GHL) program closed to new applicants on October 1. As of September, C$1.77 billion in grants had been issued, with total program funding expected to reach C$2.8 billion, according to Natural Resources Canada (NRC). Along with an estimated 250,000 heat pumps financed by the program, a total of 37,749 solar panels were financed across the provinces.
Since GHL was expected to continue through 2027, the government has rolled out a successor, the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program (CGHAP), managed at the provincial level. Manitoba was the first province to kick the program off, securing commitments of C$29.8M in federal funding for energy-efficiency retrofits.
CGHAP targets low- to middle-income (LMI) customers, including tenants, with no upfront costs. “CGHAP will also provide resources to Indigenous governments and representative Indigenous organizations through existing agreements administered by Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada,” says NRC.
Manitoba’s participation in the new program is being managed by Efficiency Manitoba, which has not elected to include solar installations within the list of eligible installations thus far. However, the province does offer rebates for solar installations, paying C$0.50 for each watt of solar installed, up to $5,000 or 50% of the project cost.
Private sector financing expansion
To help fill the financing void left by the GHL, Financeit, a point-of-sale consumer lender, extended its financing for solar projects, announcing its new initiative on Oct. 7, in partnership with solar distributor Charge Solar. The partnership offers a range of financing options to end customers, including a 0% APR for 12 months and a 3.99% option for 60 months, says Leja Simson, the VP of Finance for Charge.
From an installer point of view, Simpson said, “without the Charge program, a zero upfront payment for 12 months with no interest and just principal payments, would cost the installer 13.5% of the total loan value to buy down. But with the Charge discount [through the joint Financeit program] the installer pays just 7%.”
Financeit is offering additional financing options to installers, based on their unique multi-stage financing capability, notes Amar Samra, the company VP of Enterprise and Business Development.
“The solar program typically offers [installers] interest rates ranging from 3.99% to 7.99% up to five years,” he says. The term of a loan can also run out to 20 years, if a customer chooses the option.
With the assistance of Financeit’s software system, installers can seamlessly offer and close a deal on the spot. “We’ve seen that when our financing is offered to a consumer, the average transaction size goes up by 20% and close rates go up by 20%,” suggests Financeit CEO Casper Wong.
Charge is offering this new loan to all installers across the country. As Canada’s largest solar distributor, Simpson says. “Our primary goal [in this new loan venture] is to provide a soft landing for the GHL and to support the stability of the solar market in Canada.”
Wong reckons the overall market for this new loan option is large: “Our current annual funded volume is about C$100 million to C$150 million, and we think the upside of this partnership can be adding up to C$100 million of loan volume annually,” he says. “I think it would be realistic to see our [total] solar business grow to over C$200 or C$250 million next year.”
Financeit works with a variety of banks and institutional lenders to securitize its loan packages, including CIBC, Goldman Sachs and Sun Life.
Get to know Financeit
Before the GHG ran out of funding, Financeit partnered with installer Shift Solar to offer customers a three-month deferred bridge financing option, with no interest or penalty, assuming the balance is paid within the deferral period. Financeit also offered a fixed loan for 20 years beyond the bridge loan.
Financeit has also worked with U.S. entities for point-of-sale HVAC financing in Canada. In March 2024, Financeit extended its partnership with Sacramento-based Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA) to provide financing for Canadian installers under the OPTIMUS brand, which “has facilitated financing for 250,000-plus residential and business projects valued at over $8 billion,” EGIA states. The OPTIMUS system includes risk lending that ranges from prime to sub-prime and leasing that results in project approval rates in over 90% of all applications, EGIA adds.
Financeit has expanded its own capital base as well. In June 2024, the firm increased its securitization facility to C$500 million via CIBC and Concentra Bank. In October 2024, Goldman Sachs committed C$200 million, boosting Financeit’s lending portfolio capacity to C$2.5 billion. Financeit has partnered with over 12,000 businesses to process more than $5 billion in loan applications.
Solar adoption rates vary by province
The uptake of solar under the GHL program varied across provinces. Most lending went for heat pumps in the majority of provinces, NRC reports. Among the provinces where solar was the predominant installation under GHG were Prince Edward Island, Nunavut and the Yukon.
As of January, Canada had nearly 96,000 behind the meter solar energy installations, according to Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), and the outlook for behind the meter solar in Canada remains strong, despite the end of the GHL program and the tariff flux with the United States.
“We’re optimistic about 2026 and beyond. Even with the GH loan going away, we think solar continues to make pretty strong financial and environmental sense. In Canada equipment costs remain at an all time low now,” Simpson says.
The growth of solar in Canada may also accelerate through a more vertical relationship in solar sales that may include players other than the installer and the financier.
“This program is just the beginning, step one. We’re looking at evolving the program, recruiting manufacturers and providing even more incentives where we have a distribution and manufacturer-based program,” notes Samra. “We want to add additional stakeholders to make this even more attractive to installers and in turn, the average homeowner.”
Charles W. Thurston is contributor to Solar Builder
