© Courtesy of BOMA Canada
The places we move through every day don’t always feel like climate stories: an office lobby, a grocery store, a clinic, a school. Yet behind the scenes, building systems are constantly monitoring how much air to move, how much heating and cooling is needed, and how much energy to use to maintain healthy comfortable conditions. When those systems aren’t optimized, we notice it fast: stuffy air, hot-and-cold swings, and rising costs and carbon emissions.
For more than a century, BOMA Canada has provided leadership to the commercial real estate industry and is widely recognized as its national voice. BOMA Enspire is a national, three-year program delivered by BOMA Canada, with support from Natural Resources Canada’s Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative (DRAI), focused on Canada’s small to mid-sized buildings. Launched at BOMEX, BOMA Canada’s national industry conference, in September 2024, Enspire helps Class B and C building teams improve energy performance today and prepare for deeper retrofits tomorrow.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Mid-sized buildings account for more than 65 per cent of Canada’s building stock, and they are often managed with lean teams and competing priorities. BOMA Enspire meets the sector where it is, with practical support to help reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, and strengthen tenant comfort. Just as important, the program is designed to help owners and operators make smart decisions that protect the bottom line and build long-term value.
PROGRESS YOU CAN MEASURE
In 2025, BOMA Enspire backed that kind of momentum across Canada, funding 838 projects and impacting more than four million square metres of building space, through two groundwork initiatives, “Quick Start Audits,” followed by “Building Performance Excellence;” a stepped approach designed to move buildings from insight to action. This funding supported practical improvements, smarter building operations, and the planning needed to take action and move confidently toward better building performance and deeper energy and carbon reductions.
As one voice from the program community put it, “These studies provide the foundation from which we can start to identify meaningful opportunities.” Two project spotlights show what that looks like on the ground.
FROM GUESSWORK TO GAME PLAN
In Yellowknife, NWT, the team at Northview Properties manages seven buildings, and they knew the hardest part to improving their performance was deciding where to begin. With expert support from Catalys Labs and funding through BOMA Enspire’s Quick-Start Audit Initiative, they gathered the data needed to identify realistic improvements and start moving forward. It’s a strong reminder that energy progress isn’t just for big city towers. It matters in smaller markets and everyday buildings, too.
At Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, a deep retrofit turned one of the campus’s largest energy consumers into a proof point. Led by Dalhousie’s facilities and sustainability team, with technical support from engineering and construction partners, the project transformed a 55-year-old library’s operating systems with significant results: utility costs dropped by about 50 per cent, and the building’s carbon footprint fell by more than half. That success helped spark the next wave of projects, including work on the Student Union building, now moving forward with support through Enspire’s Building Performance Excellence Initiative. Together, these stories show how better data and targeted support can turn older buildings into high-impact wins.
THREE WAYS ENSPIRE MOVES BUILDINGS FORWARD
BOMA Enspire supports action in three clear lanes.
CONTINUED FUNDING SUPPORT
“Retrofit Ready”, the program’s final funding initiative, launched April 1, 2026, and supports four areas for eligible buildings: recommissioning and building optimization; energy monitoring and tracking systems; business-case development; and retrofit coordinators.
TRAINING THAT BUILDS CONFIDENCE
Enspire delivers resources and industry support through its Knowledge Centre, a growing library of case studies, tutorial videos, and recordings of free education sessions. Subsidized Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) accredited certification courses are also offered so more people can build low-carbon transition skills. Additionally, Enspire is developing a new Building Performance Standards Guide to help owners prepare for an evolving policy landscape.
BUILDING A TALENT POOL
In Toronto’s Liberty Village, Enspire has launched a pilot called EPICS, an immersive learning space that uses tools like virtual reality and digital twins to explore real building and retrofit scenarios. It is free and open to operators, trades, professionals, and job seekers.
Led by BOMA Canada Vice President Bala Gnanam, the team also brings practical decarbonization strategies to trade shows and energy-efficiency summits across Canada, while recognizing standout carbon and energy reductions through the national BOMA Enspire Awards. The 2026 award winners will be announced at BOMEX Ottawa 2026, BOMA Canada’s annual national building excellence summit, taking place September 22 to 24, 2026.
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At BOMA, we lean into the skills and experiences of our members to develop inspired, objective-led programs that will drive the built environment forward and provide the resources for those same members to excel.