Across Canada, building owners are under pressure to do more with less. Faced with rising energy costs, aging assets, and ongoing regulatory pressures, building owners increasingly see building retrofits as a solution to these challenges, making retrofits one of the most durable business opportunities across the built environment for electrical contractors.

While electrical contractors have long been called on to update lighting systems, upgrade electrical panels, install modern controls and support equipment change-outs, the pace and scale of this work is accelerating as momentum towards the electrification of buildings grows.

Canada’s existing building stock is vast, and most of the offices, schools, hospitals, warehouses and multi-unit residential buildings that will be standing in 2050 have already been built. In the coming decades, these existing buildings must be retrofitted, with many of the required upgrades dependent on the electrical expertise contractors bring.

Near-term pipeline, long-term staying power

In the near term, existing building retrofits offer contractors a practical way to diversify revenue streams and insulate their business from the peaks and troughs associated with new construction activity.

As more building owners recognize the clear operational benefits and cost savings associated with retrofits, electrical contractors can expect to be called on for a range of retrofit work spanning LED lighting replacements, lighting controls, variable-speed drives, building automation upgrades, service capacity assessments, EV charging infrastructure, and electrical work tied to heat pump installations.

In the context of electrification, these projects are often easier for owners to justify due to their role in helping businesses reduce utility costs, improve reliability, or address ongoing deferred maintenance.

The long-term opportunities are even larger. Interest in building electrification, supported by policy developments such as Prime Minister Carney’s Powering Canada Strong national electricity strategy, is moving buildings away from fossil fuel use and toward electricity for heating, cooling, transportation, and some industrial processes.

This shift requires updates and upgrades to electrical infrastructure both inside and adjacent to buildings. Where a building may once have needed modest electrical capacity for lights, plug loads, and fans, greater capacity is needed to meet demands from electrification technologies such as heat pumps, smart controls, thermal storage, battery systems, solar photovoltaic equipment, EV chargers and demand-response technologies.

Contractors that understand how these systems operate and interact will be well-positioned to replicate this type of work across building types and portfolios.

Retrofits also provide electrical contractors with an opportunity to establish long-term relationships that can serve as a more stable revenue base. For example, contractors already working on an upgrade to the building’s lighting system can create opportunities to carry out a panel assessment which, in turn, can lead to opportunities for controls work, installation of EV charging infrastructure, maintenance, and future electrification planning.

Contractors, particularly those serving commercial, institutional, and multi-unit residential clients, can also create new opportunities to serve as a trusted implementation partner, helping owners navigate code changes, carbon reporting requirements, or equipment end-of-life decisions.

The most common entry point for electrical contractors continues to be LED lighting retrofits, occupancy sensors, exterior lighting upgrades, and networked lighting controls. Building on these standard offerings, contractors can offer upgrades including power distribution and controls, heat pump conversions that require new circuits, panels, transformers, disconnects, or backup power systems and EV charging projects.

These high-value projects require load calculations, utility coordination, conduit runs, metering, networking and energy management systems that help owners avoid peak-demand charges.

Contractors looking to expand their services further can shift focus to the growing market for electrification. Beginning by mapping retrofit services already performed, contractors can identify opportunities to expand into energy-efficiency and demand-management projects. This can help reposition them as invaluable partners in building owners’ efforts to improve energy performance, reduce emissions and increase lifecycle value.

The class of contractors who are able to collaborate with engineers, energy managers, facility teams and mechanical partners are particularly well-placed, as they are able to competently identify practical project constraints and opportunities.

Making the case

Capital planning continues to be one of the biggest barriers to retrofit work. Owners often know upgrades are needed, but delay decisions due to tight budgets and uncertain paybacks. This highlights another new role for electrical contractors: knowledgeable contractors can help projects pencil out and gain management approval by pointing clients to government and utility incentives, financing, and technical resources.

Many of the required upgrades to Canada’s building stock are dependent on the electrical expertise that contractors bring. (Photo: Roberta Franchuk/Pembina Institute)

At the federal level, Natural Resources Canada’s Retrofit Hub provides a centralized source of funding, financing, rebates, tax incentives and technical resources for commercial, institutional and multi-unit residential retrofits. It directs building owners and project teams to programs that support planning and implementation.

In Ontario, the Independent Electricity System Operator’s Save on Energy programs support business and industrial energy-efficiency upgrades. With incentives for eligible equipment upgrades, the Retrofit Program can help businesses identify operational improvements and upgrade to energy efficient equipment that reduces electricity consumption and peak demand.

Other provinces and municipalities offer their own pathways. For example, CleanBC programs in British Columbia, or offerings from Efficiency Manitoba, Efficiency Nova Scotia, as well as municipal retrofit loans and property-assessed financing models.

While the eligibility and supports each program offers varies, electrical contractors can leverage their knowledge about these programs to drive the sales conversation. Contractors who understand available supports and can help clients navigate application processes and eligibility requirements add significant value for building owners.

The scope of retrofits can also go beyond the addition of new loads; also helping to enhance overall energy efficiency and demand management. Electrical contractors play a critical role in sizing equipment that can help smooth peak demands and, ultimately, make electrification more affordable.

Smart panels, metering, automated controls, demand-response-ready equipment, EV load management, storage-ready designs and high-quality commissioning all influence how a building uses electricity. Electrical contractors can add value for the building owner by assessing electrical capacity, planning for equipment replacement cycles, and aligning major capital projects with incentives and grid constraints.

Built to scale

Building on existing relationships, electrical contractors can identify the retrofit potential of their client base. Buildings with aging lighting, high operating hours, inefficient heating systems, outdated controls, limited metering, and growing capacity demands are an opportunity to highlight how these challenging conditions may impact business operations or provide access to new revenue generating opportunities.

Additionally, given that these retrofit projects often go beyond the capacity of electrical contractors, electrification projects are an opportunity to build a network of...

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