How can municipal managers achieve energy savings and improve service delivery in a community’s most popular and critical buildings? When working on a building owned by a municipal government—whether it’s a town hall, indoor arena, public library or other—municipalities can now access funding for energy retrofits or the construction of new, efficient facilities.

As the Community Buildings Retrofit initiative comes to a close, the Green Municipal Fund, administered through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, continues to support energy upgrades to municipally owned community buildings through the Sustainable Municipal Buildings (SMB) program.

As of February 2026, the SMB initiative provides a streamlined, continuous, year-round application process for funding. 

Key Details of the SMB Offer: 

Purpose: To help Canadian municipalities and their partners reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, lower operating costs, and enhance the resilience of community buildings like town halls, arenas, libraries, and emergency centres.Funding Structure: Offers a combination of grants and loans (up to 80 per cent of eligible costs) for capital projects and studies.Focus Areas:New Construction: High-efficiency, net-zero new buildings.Retrofits: Deep energy retrofits to reduce emissions by at least 50%.Studies: Feasibility studies to plan for GHG reduction.Grant Limits for Studies: Up to $65,000 for a single building or up to $200,000 for a portfolio of buildings.Eligibility: Canadian municipal governments, municipal partners, and not-for-profit organizations. 

Application Process:

Continuous Intake: Applications are accepted year-round, though the offer will close once all funding is allocated.How to Apply: Applicants must submit a pre-application form, followed by a project workbook. 

This funding is part of a broader $1.65 billion endowment from the Government of Canada to the GMF, which is also supporting other areas like municipal fleet electrification and organic waste-to-energy projects.

GMF staff are available to guide municipalities through this transition.

Learn more about the SMB offer.

Featured image credit: Getty Images