The Ottawa Climate Action Fund exists to accelerate Ottawa’s transition to an equitable, carbon-neutral future. To make that happen, we need to shift our spending from high-carbon to low-carbon endeavours. Today. Yesterday.
OCAF identifies and cultivates compelling local project and investment opportunities by convening practitioners and stakeholders, building strategic partnerships, and through our own granting and programs. We invest a portion of our endowment in flagship local projects that inform, inspire, and show how practical low-carbon solutions can scale up.
From our collaboration with economic leaders—through the OCAF Climate-Economy Opportunities Summit, the Invest Ottawa Net-Zero Investment Forum and the Kanata North Green Energy Resilience District—we know there are billions of dollars of local investment opportunities in low-carbon projects, right here in Ottawa. They cross multiple sectors of our local economy, from real estate and energy to transportation and clean tech. And there are billions more to be earned from these sustainable and resilient investments.
That’s why OCAF is determined to grow Ottawa’s Green Pipeline of local low-carbon investment opportunities to deliver lasting returns—financial, environmental and community.
At its most basic, building the Green Pipeline is about connecting worthwhile projects with interested investors to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, while boosting our resilience to the increasing disruptions brought on by climate change. Getting it done all comes down to supply and demand:
- Building up the supply of investable low-carbon projects and companies by mapping the current inventory, seeding new opportunities and aggregating projects to feed and grow the pipeline;
- Engaging and attracting investors to generate deals and structure co-investment partnerships;
- And connecting shovel-ready projects to investors who are ready to commit.
This may be the first time anyone in Ottawa has ever defined a Green Pipeline that spans all the different sectors with a hand in building our community’s low-carbon future. But we already have a lot of activity to build on. Here are just a few examples:
- Hydro Ottawa’s Ottawa Retrofit Accelerator offers free expert guidance, comprehensive support services and exclusive funding for carbon pathway studies in commercial buildings. OCAF supports this effort through promotion, and a partnership with machine learning specialists Audette.io, enabling owners to map and assess retrofit opportunities.
- The City of Ottawa’s Better Homes Ottawa Loan Program leverages funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Vancity Community Investment Bank to offer low- and zero-interest home retrofit loans for both owners and tenants.
- The LeBreton Wastewater Energy Transfer project is emerging as an investable opportunity after a feasibility study funded by OCAF pointed the way.
- The Kanata North Green Energy Resilience District, spearheaded at OCAF’s Ottawa Climate-Economy Opportunities Summit last fall, with seed funding from Hydro Ottawa and OCAF, is unlocking opportunities to deploy integrated solutions that achieve energy resilience at the Tech Park in a highest-value, least-cost, low-carbon and timely way. The initiative leverages City of Ottawa efforts to develop an Economic Action Plan for the Kanata North Special Economic District, which is being supported by Bloomberg Associates.
- The Ottawa Board of Trade has called for a $500 million Downtown Capital Investment Fund that represents a golden opportunity to lock in low-carbon resilience.
- Invest Ottawa provides a wide menu of supports for clean tech startups, from ideation and launch to scaling up and going global.
- The Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative (OREC) has deployed $12 million from individual impact investors, supporting 8.4 GWh of renewable energy generation in Eastern Ontario.
This escalating activity serves as a foundation for Ottawa’s Green Pipeline when it connects with the broad spectrum of available funding and finance, including:
- Philanthropic grants from OCAF, the Ottawa Community Foundation and a growing list of public and private charities;
- Public tax credits, grants and loans from all levels of government and the FCM’s Green Municipal Fund;
- Community impact investors like OREC;
- A continuum of financial institutions, from credit unions and banks to private equity, impact investors, venture capital, the Canada Infrastructure Bank and pension funds.
The other essential feature of a Green Pipeline is the ability to get more done faster by “passing the baton” up the chain of increasingly senior investors and stacking multiple funding and finance sources to deliver bigger projects and scaling strategies. While OCAF’s pockets are only so deep, our network of partners, allies, co-funders and co-investors is steadily growing. That’s where we see tremendous potential to attract, mobilize and leverage the significant financial capital necessary to get on a path to zero emissions.
OCAF’s catalytic role is to help identify, grow and connect supply and demand for low-carbon investments to bring Ottawa’s Green Pipeline to life. We’re working to close the gap between an economic case that is often clear, a climate imperative that is always urgent, and the land, infrastructure, technology, and financing that will translate the potential into action and results. That begins with helping owners, investors and enabling organizations glimpse the wider solution sets lurking just beyond their immediate agendas.
LOOKING FOR LEADERS WITH SKIN IN THE GAME
The potential for a Green Pipeline is clear and compelling.
OCAF is here. We’re ready to contribute and collaborate on Green Pipeline opportunities.
Who is ready to join us in building Ottawa’s Green Pipeline? In activating the next generation of energy, real estate, transportation and tech investments that will bring Ottawa to net-zero? It will take serious work – and deliver serious benefits for people, planet and economy.
How will you step up?
Whether you’re an investor, a project developer, or play another key role in the low-carbon business ecosystem, OCAF stands ready to collaborate in curating opportunities and consider prospective investments (subject to our due diligence).
Please reach out and let us know where you see yourself in Ottawa’s Green Pipeline and how we can work together to bring Carbon Down and Ottawa Up.