- What Dream Industrial is receiving federal support for warehouse retrofitting
- Why Canada Infrastructure Bank pledging a $50m loan for upgrades to 34 buildings
- What next CIB has allocated $1.2bn for building retrofit projects since 2022
Dream Industrial REIT will receive a $50m federal loan to finance retrofit work on 34 of its mid-and large-bay warehouses.
The announced financing, from Canada Infrastructure Bank, will support energy-efficiency upgrades for the portfolio, which is spread across Alberta, Québec and Ontario.
CIB’s loan will help pay for upgrades to mechanical, electrical and HVAC systems. Planned upgrades also include rooftop solar panel installations, upgrades for fuel switching and electric-vehicle charging stations.
It’s expected the retrofit initiative will generate around 14,500 megawatts of clean electricity and 630 new jobs.
The investment comes out of a federal retrofitting financing program for curbing greenhouse gases. Earlier this month, CIB announced a $100m loan to Concert Infrastructure and GDI Integrated Facility Services to support retrofit upgrades for 40 commercial, multi-residential and institutional buildings across the country over five years. Concert and GDI will kick in $25m in equity to the project.
Also this month, CIB announced a $100m partnership with Scotiabank to offer low-interest financing for retrofitting work to the bank’s commercial real estate clients if they can commit to at least a 30% reduction in emissions through building upgrades.
Overall, CIB has handed out $1.2bn in payouts to organizations seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. It’s estimated by the agency that buildings account for 18% of the country’s overall emissions.
Part of the Dream Group of Cos., Dream Industrial is one of the largest investors of industrial properties in the country. At the start of 2025, it controlled nearly 72m sq ft of industrial space across Canada, Europe and the U.S.
