About 1% of Canadian households reported alternative energy use

A Statistics Canada StatsCAN Plus article published October 13 reported that about 1% of Canadian households used at least one alternative energy source in 2021, based on the Households and the Environment Survey. Among those users, 23.4% reported solar power, 10.9% geothermal and 10.3% other sources such as wind or biofuels; the agency flagged the latter two estimates for caution.

Some 88.5% of households using alternative energy lived in single-detached homes, compared with 72.7% of non-users. Senior-only households represented 35.9% of users and 21.6% of non-users. The 2021 survey covered households in the 10 provinces, excluding the territories; percentages for individual energy sources use only households reporting alternative-energy use as the denominator.