days until Toronto's reporting threshold drops to 10,000 sq ft — what it means for you

Comply · Assess · Fund

Every commercial energy obligation in Canada, handled by one firm.

Regulatory reporting and verification, ASHRAE energy audits, and the funding programs that pay for what the audit finds. For commercial, industrial and institutional buildings across Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba.

NRCan Registered Service Organization BOMA Enspire Certified Service Provider ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA 211 P.Eng · CEM · CEA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
Toronto EWRB · threshold drops to 10,000 sq ft
days until the first report is due

On 2 July 2027, thousands of mid-sized Toronto buildings become subject to mandatory energy and water reporting for the first time. A full year of utility data is required before that submission — which means the work starts now.

Free · No email required

What does the law require of your building?

Three questions. An honest answer in ten seconds.

Where does your building sit?

Most Canadian commercial buildings have never been formally rated. An energy audit is how you find out — and how you prove it to a regulator, a lender or a tenant.

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Most efficientLeast efficient

What we do

The last energy consultant your building needs

Three things drive every commercial energy project in Canada: a regulation you must satisfy, an assessment that tells you what to do, and a funding program that pays for it. We do all three — for every property type, at every scale.

01

Comply

Reporting and verification you are legally required to file
01 · 01

EWRB reporting

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager set-up, utility data aggregation across tenants and meters, and annual submission under O. Reg. 506/18 and the City of Toronto bylaw.

Annual retainer available
01 · 02

Third-party verification

Mandatory for buildings of 100,000 sq ft and over, in the first year and every five years after. Performed by a certified professional and filed on your behalf.

Recurring five-year cycle
01 · 03

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

Account and property set-up, meter mapping, tenant data aggregation and ongoing management — whether or not you are required to report. The benchmark most lenders and purchasers now ask for.

Standalone or with EWRB filing
01 · 04

Carbon limits & disclosure

GHG inventories, emissions baselining and readiness assessments for jurisdictions moving to carbon intensity caps — including Vancouver's limits now in force.

Investor & lender reporting
02

Assess

Finding out what is actually wrong, and what it costs to fix
02 · 01

ASHRAE energy audits

Level 1, 2 and 3 audits to ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 211 for commercial, institutional and multi-residential buildings, reported to the standard's own outline.

Most requested → Level 2
02 · 02

Industrial & process audits

Manufacturing and warehousing facilities. Process loads, compressed air, motors, drives and heat recovery assessed alongside building systems.

Plant and building scope
02 · 03

Retro-commissioning & EBCx

Systematic testing of existing systems and correction of control sequences. Usually the fastest payback available, with no capital replacement required.

Save on Energy EBCx stream
02 · 04

Energy modelling & code compliance

Ontario Building Code SB-12 and SB-10 compliance, NECB modelling, calibrated building simulation and net-zero pathway analysis — sealed by a Professional Engineer where required.

SB-12 · SB-10 · NECB
02 · 05

Office & portfolio assessments

Whole-building efficiency assessments across office portfolios, including tenant sub-metering analysis and common-area load reduction.

Single building or portfolio
02 · 06

Building envelope assessment

Wall and roof assembly review, glazing performance, thermal bridging and air-tightness. Where the heat actually leaves the building, and what it costs you each winter.

Thermographic survey available
02 · 07

Measurement & verification

M&V plans built into every Level 2 and 3 report, and post-retrofit verification to prove the savings a program or a lender requires you to demonstrate.

Required by most funders
03

Fund

The programs that pay for what the assessment finds
03 · 01

BOMA Enspire

A certified BOMA Enspire Service Provider. The program is funded through Natural Resources Canada's Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative and targets Class B and C buildings.

Certified service provider
03 · 02

CMHC MLI Select

Energy modelling and professional attestation for multi-unit residential financing. Energy points unlock premium reductions and extended amortization.

P.Eng · CEM attestation
03 · 03

Incentive applications

Save on Energy Retrofit, Enbridge commercial custom projects and provincial equivalents — scoped, documented and submitted, with pre-approval secured before work begins.

Up to 50% of project cost

The regulatory calendar

Reporting is now law. The dates are fixed.

Energy and water benchmarking stopped being voluntary in most of the country. These are the obligations that apply to Canadian commercial buildings right now.

Requirement
Applies to
Deadline
Ontario EWRB annual report
Commercial, institutional and multi-residential, 50,000 sq ft and over
1 July, annually
Ontario EWRB verification
Buildings 100,000 sq ft and over, by a certified professional
Every five years
City of Toronto EWRB
50,000 sq ft and over — no building-type exemptions
2 July, annually
Toronto threshold drop
10,000 – 49,999 sq ft enters mandatory scope for the first time
2 July 2027
Vancouver carbon limits
Office 25 kg CO₂e/m²/yr · retail 14, declining to zero by 2040
In force 2026

The Toronto change matters most. From 2027 the threshold drops to 10,000 square feet, bringing thousands of mid-sized buildings into mandatory reporting for the first time. Portfolio Manager set-up and a full year of utility data are needed before that first submission — which means the work starts in 2026, not 2027.

We will also tell you what does not apply. Toronto's Building Emissions Performance Standards are frequently described online as being in force. They are not — they remain in development.

Scope of work

Most buildings get audited at the wrong level

A Level 1 walk-through will not support an incentive application. A Level 3 investment-grade study is money wasted if all you need is a benchmark. Getting it wrong costs you either the funding or the fee.

How long each level takes

Typical elapsed time from the point building data is available. Incentive pre-approval, where required, runs before this.

Level 1 — Walk-throughPortfolio triage · budgets
2–4 wks
Level 2 — Survey & analysisIncentives · capital planning
4–8 wks
Level 3 — Investment gradeDeep retrofits · performance contracts
8–16 wks
0481216 weeks

Level 1 — Walk-through

Utility analysis, benchmarking against comparable buildings, and a site walk-through. Identifies low-cost and no-cost measures with order-of-magnitude savings, plus the capital measures worth investigating further.

Level 2 — Survey & analysis

System-by-system survey of envelope, HVAC, lighting, controls and hot water. Consumption broken down by end use. Every measure costed with payback and available incentives, plus a measurement and verification plan.

Level 3 — Investment grade

Field measurement, data logging and a calibrated energy model tuned to your building's actual metered consumption. Engineering-grade estimates with interactive effects modelled, not assumed.

What an audit unlocks

The audit is usually the cheapest part of the project

50%
of eligible project cost available through the Save on Energy Retrofit Program in Ontario, with doubled rates for most non-lighting measures in electricity-constrained regions.
30%
refundable federal Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit for businesses on commercial solar and battery storage.
$1.2B+
committed by the Canada Infrastructure Bank to building retrofits, at a minimum 30% GHG reduction per building with verified savings.

Incentive rates are revised roughly every six months and have been trending downward — Ontario's small-to-medium solar rate fell to $770 per kW-AC on 30 June 2026. When you apply changes what a project is worth.

Where we work

Buildings where energy is a board-level cost

Education

School boards

Multi-site portfolios where a single measure repeats across dozens of buildings.

Assembly

Places of worship

Large volumes, intermittent occupancy, older envelopes, constrained budgets.

Multi-residential

High-rise residential

Buildings facing EWRB reporting, MLI Select financing and rising common-area costs.

Industrial

Manufacturing & process

Process loads, compressed air, motors and heat recovery alongside building systems.

Public sector

Municipal buildings

Portfolios with capital planning cycles and formal procurement requirements.

Commercial

Office, retail & warehousing

Including healthcare and mixed-use portfolios across four provinces.

How an engagement runs

Five stages. Fixed fee. No hourly creep.

STAGE 1Week 1

Scoping & proposal

We confirm the driver, the level required, and what data exists. Fixed-fee proposal before any work starts.

STAGE 2Weeks 1–2

Data collection

24–36 months of utility data, drawings, equipment lists, and controls trend data where available.

STAGE 3Weeks 2–5

Site work

A licensed auditor on site. System-by-system survey, with measurement and logging at Level 2 and above.

STAGE 4Weeks 4–8

Analysis & report

End-use breakdown, measures ranked by payback, M&V plan, and documentation formatted for your programs.

STAGE 5Ongoing

Funding & verification

Incentive applications submitted and tracked, and post-retrofit verification to prove the savings.

National reach

Commercial and industrial work across Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba, supported by a national network of licensed energy advisors. Multi-site and mixed portfolios stay with one firm.

Credentials that get scored

Professional Engineers, mechanical engineers, Certified Energy Managers and Certified Energy Auditors. EnerSolution Inc. is a Natural Resources Canada Registered Service Organization and a certified BOMA Enspire Service Provider.

Reports built for the decision

Formatted for the program you are applying to — Standard 211 report outlines, Portfolio Manager submissions, MLI Select attestations, or a tender package your own contractors can bid.

Request a proposal

Tell us what is driving the decision

A compliance deadline, an incentive application, a financing requirement, or a capital plan. Tell us which, and we will tell you what level of audit you need and what it will cost — as a fixed fee, before any work starts.

If you do not need an audit, we will say so.

Step 1 of 5 — The building

Tell us about the building

No obligation. We will tell you if you do not need an audit.