Montreal-based decarbonization specialist SOFIAC is raising capital to so that it can provide decarbonization retrofits in commercial buildings across Canada, The Globe and Mail reported.

SOFIAC, whose full name is la Société de financement et d’accompagnement en performance énergétique, previously funded 10 projects for such clients as Montreal Airports, adMare BioInnovations and INNHotels, according to the Globe. In the case of INNHotel, the company told the Globe that it invested $5.9 million, reducing the chain’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 30% and lowering energy costs by $395,000 annually.

SOFIAC started up in Quebec and then expanded into Ontario, B.C. and Alberta. Now, after beginning with $200 million for investments, SOFIAC plans to raise capital for a “significantly larger” fund to serve more markets, Christian Brosseau, the company’s president and CEO, told the Globe.

“The second fund will surely be from coast to coast,” Brosseau told his interviewer. “There will be no limitation because we’ll have the capital to really address and look at projects from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, down to B.C., and look at all provinces. And, we’ll have a team also to support those efforts across Canada,” Mr. Brosseau said in an interview.

Labour-sponsored impact investment fund Fondaction and international energy-finance consultancy Econoler launched SOFIAC in 2021, receiving come backing from the Quebec government to accelerate energe-efficiency programs throughout Quebec.

SOFIAC is backed by four institutional investors, with Fondaction and Desjardins Capital providing equity and Canada Infrastructure Bank and Fiera Private Debt supplying loans. According to the Globe, SOFIAC has about $100 million left to utilize.

SOFIAC provides capital so that companies seeking to decarbonize their buildings do not have to make upfront expenditures amid while concerned about making large investments amid today’s economic and trade turmoil, Brosseau told the Globe.

In Quebec, SOFIAC looks for companies generating more than $750,000 annually; in other provinces that it serves, the minimum is $1.2 million. All clients must also use investment-grade credit, the Globe reported.

“The issue of decarbonization and reducing energy consumption, generally speaking, is so vast that there’s no limit to the ideas that we can have to deploy capital and help our partners reduce their energy consumption, reduce GHGs and have a positive impact on the economy and on the environment,” he said in his interview the Globe.

With each client, SOFIAC evaluates whether investments are needed in such areas as HVAC, power sources and demand-side management. The company expects to invest the second fund’s capital over the next five years or less depending on demand for the program and then seek more capital, according to the Globe.