Demand rises for P.E.I.'s home heating assistance program

Individuals and families on P.E.I. can once again apply for financial help to heat their homes in 2025. 

The program is funded by the provincial government and administered by the Salvation Army. Last year, it gave out about $7 million in assistance to help Islanders pay for home heating, usually furnace oil.   

"These are people who have earned money, paid taxes and are still struggling," said Martin Dutton with the Salvation Army. "Folks are not coming through because they are just trying to grab money."

Dutton said the need continues to rise as P.E.I.'s population grows.

"The need keeps on growing with volume, basically," he said. "Similar to the health situation, if you have more people you have more need of a service to support them." 

The province is asking those who apply to the program if they'd be willing to be contacted by Efficiency P.E.I. about options to make their homes more energy-efficient or access grants for things like free heat pumps. 

$9M budgeted for 2025

So far this month, the Salvation Army has already given out $900,000 in home heating aid, compared to about $700,000 during the same time period last year, Dutton said. 

The budget for the program for 2025 is $9 million, and Dutton believes that will all be used. 

He said he's not surprised about the increased need, because his organization is also seeing a rising demand for its other programs like Christmas hampers and the food bank. 

Many people are reluctant to seek help out of shame, Dutton said, and their stories can be heartbreaking. 

"They're the kind of ones where you go 'I'm not going to cry,'" he said, recalling a recent applicant who told him they have Stage 4 cancer, had just lost their job and had no heat. 

The Salvation Army administered 6,000 applications last year, he said, and the organization does its best to decide which applicants deserve the assistance. 

To qualify, individuals must make less than $45,000. For households of two people or more the threshold is $60,000.  Applicants can't be receiving social assistance, and must be experiencing an emergency heating situation.

Dutton said the program will be there to help as long as there are people in financial need. 

"If folks are making decisions on staying warm and eating, compared to maybe the next new iPhone, then we can't tell people how to do that," he said. "If we can educate everyone better then maybe fewer people will be struggling."