Benchmarking is the process of documenting your building’s energy and water use and comparing its performance to other similar buildings in order to identify opportunities for improvement.
Ontario’s Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) regulation (O.Reg. 506/18) requires large buildings to report their annual energy and water use to the Ministry of Energy by July 1st of each year.
If your building has a gross floor area of 50,000 square feet or more, you may be required to report. See below for more information, resources, and supports from the City of Toronto that will help you get the most out of the benchmarking and reporting process.
Benchmarking is the process of tracking a building’s energy and water use and comparing its performance over time, and to the performance of similar buildings. Benchmarking is the first step towards improving building efficiency.
Benchmarking your building’s energy and water use can help you:
Building Size (Gross Floor Area*) |
Building Type ** |
Reporting Requirement |
Regulatory Body |
| 50,000 square feet and larger | Commercial,
Industrial, and Multi-residential |
Energy and water data must be reported by July 1st each year, starting in 2023. | Province of Ontario |
Buildings smaller than 50,000 square feet in size may still report their energy and water use on a voluntary basis. City of Toronto EWRB resources and supports are also available to voluntary reporters.
*The Gross Floor Area (GFA) of a single building or structure is the total number of square feet between the exterior surfaces of its enclosed fixed walls.
This includes:
GFA does not include any exterior, unroofed or open-air spaces, such as an outdoor parking area.
GFA is not the same as rentable space, but rather includes all area inside the building(s). Rentable, or leasable, space is a sub-set of GFA.
** For a full list of the property types required to report under O.Reg. 506/18, see the List of building types in the Ministry of Energy’s Guide to energy and water reporting.
The City of Toronto has created a series of instructional videos to help you successfully benchmark and report your property’s energy and water use using Energy Star Portfolio Manager:
For a 2-page summary of the reporting steps and key resources, see The EWRB Guide for Toronto Building Owners.
For detailed written instructions on how to submit your report using Energy Star Portfolio Manager, please refer to the Ministry of Energy Portfolio Manager Guide.
For mandatory reporting, be sure to use the 2023 reporting link (also located at the top of this page) to submit your 2022 usage data to the Ministry of Energy.
Natural Resources Canada offers free ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager building energy benchmarking tools, information sessions, presentations and training webinars on their Benchmarking training resources webpage .
Ontario’s Guide to Energy and Water Reporting provides a detailed overview of the EWRB regulation’s reporting requirements.
The Ministry of Energy’s Portfolio Manager Guide provides detailed written instructions on how to submit your report using Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
BBP webinars are arranged by City staff to provide information and guidance on the benchmarking and reporting process.
To be notified of future webinars, please email bbp@toronto.ca.
To request your EWRB ID or update your reporting lead contact information, please contact EWRB Support by:
For guidance on how to use Energy Star Portfolio Manager to enter and report your energy and water data, please see the City’s instructional EWRB video series.
For specific questions about ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, please refer to the Natural Resources Canada Benchmarking FAQ or email your questions to buildings-batiments@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.
For questions about the benchmarking and reporting process for Toronto buildings, or to request one-on-one support, please contact us at buildingreporting@toronto.ca.
The City’s Navigation & Support Services program can help you identify opportunities to improve your building’s energy efficiency and can help you access incentives and financing for energy retrofit projects.
To request a consultation with a Navigation & Support Services advisor, please complete the application form , include a copy of your building’s EWRB response data and send it to bbp@toronto.ca.
