The Canadian government cancelled all "pre-retrofit" evaluations effective last Saturday, according to a company that evaluates homes for federal energy-saving grants. Under the program, homes retrofitted with energy-efficient furnaces and extra insulation could qualify for rebates from the federal and provincial governments. The two-step process required people to get their homes evaluated before renovations were made, and then get a follow-up evaluation to determine the size of the grant they would receive. This is a sad setback for energy efficiency because a home retrofitted under the program cuts its energy use by an average of 30 percent. A typical homeowner who boosted their EnerGuide rating to 73 from 60 would get a federal grant of C$827, plus a matching provincial grant. The cut is not surprising, I suppose, because earlier this month the federal budget for the program was slashed by C$227 million over five years. For more on this topic, check CBC News.