British Columbia has earned a B grade for its progress in 2025 in electrifying space and water- heating and cooling systems in buildings, based on the Building Electrification Scorecard.

The scorecard was issued by the Building to Electrification Coalition, a network of more than 250 organizations across B.C.’s building sector, including industry, government and other stakeholders working to shift the market toward electrification. The coalition is operated by the Zero Emission Innovation Centre.

A key policy milestone in 2025 was the advancement of the Zero Carbon Step Code (ZCSC), which now requires all new buildings in the province to meet EL-1, while more than 30 local governments have adopted higher performance levels, representing roughly 50% of new building starts. But there is still considerable work to be done according to the coalition.

“B.C. has made meaningful progress over the past five years in shifting buildings to clean power,” said said Mariko Michasiw, B2E program manager at ZEIC, in a news release. “We have the tools to make electrification the default, but scaling that progress will require tackling key challenges along with strong, consistent market signals.

“Modernizing codes, growing the workforce, retrofitting existing buildings, and ensuring costs remain fair for households and businesses are critical to enabling a low-carbon building sector.”

In response to intensifying climate impacts such as heat waves, the provincial government is mandating cooling measures in new buildings, including heat pumps, while continuing efforts to reduce carbon pollution. Heat pumps are gaining traction as an efficient, cost-effective solution, with imports into B.C. now outpacing gas furnaces.

The province is also addressing affordability concerns by increasing housing supply and working to reduce building operating costs. At the same time, BC Hydro has updated connection tariffs and distribution upgrades to help manage the cost of delivering electricity to buildings.

Industry is also evolving, with manufacturers, suppliers and installers phasing out refrigerants that potentially contribute to global warming in favour of alternatives that carry about one-third less climate impact.

Despite progress, challenges remain. While local and regional governments continue to advance policies and programs, and initiatives such as the Capital Regional District’s building benchmarking program aim to improve energy-use transparency and emissions tracking, a report included in the scorecard notes the loss of a key market signal following the removal of the consumer carbon tax in 2025, calling the move “a significant setback for climate action.”

The removal of the $80-per-tonne tax led to the lost of $1.5 billion in provincial revenue, the report notes.

“We wanted to be able to demonstrate that progress has been made without saying that we’ve fully achieved it,” Michasiw told Sustainabile Biz Canada.

The CleanBC Independent Review, released in late 2025, reinforced the need for strong, consistent policy signals and co-ordinated action across governments, utilities and industry to drive further emissions reductions and electrification.

However, uneven implementation of CleanBC policies continues to create uncertainty for industry, underscoring the need for clearer and more consistent direction to support the transition to clean power, according to the coalition.

Existing buildings account for most building-sector emissions.

Pictured: The Stack in downtown Vancouver, which is North America’s first carbon-neutral office tower.