The Province of Ontario’s Energy & Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) regulation (O. Reg. 506/18) is designed to help building owners and managers improve their building’s performance. Through this regulation, large buildings are required to report annual energy and water consumption and performance data. Ontario’s Guide to Energy and Water Reporting provides a detailed overview of the regulation and reporting requirements.
With buildings generating more than half of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions, improving the energy efficiency of Toronto’s building stock will be key to addressing the climate emergency. The City’s Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy will require the owners of all existing buildings in Toronto to decarbonize their buildings by 2040 and encourages to extend the provincial benchmarking and reporting requirements to buildings of all sizes. Full details on the provincial regulation can be found in Ontario’s Guide to Energy and Water Reporting.
Building performance benchmarking is the process of tracking a building’s energy and water use over time. This allows for the building’s performance to be measured against its past performance as well as 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*) | Annual Reporting Requirement | Regulatory Body |
| 100,000 square feet and larger | Mandatory | Province of Ontario |
| 50,000 square feet and larger | Voluntary in 2022;
Mandatory as of 2023 |
Province of Ontario |
Assisting buildings below 50,000 square feet in size with understanding energy reporting and benchmarking and its benefits, is also part of the City’s Existing Building Strategy.
*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.
It 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.
The EWRB Guide for Toronto Building Owners provides step-by-step instructions on how to benchmark and report your building’s energy and water data.
For detailed instructions on how to submit your report using Energy Star Portfolio Manager, please refer to the Ministry of Energy Portfolio Manager Guide. Please ensure to use the 2022 reporting link (also located at the top of this page) to submit your 2021 usage data.
Natural Resources Canada Training Resources
Natural Resources Canada offers a range of free ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager building energy benchmarking tools, information sessions, presentations and training webinars on their Benchmarking training resources webpage.
Better Buildings Partnership Webinars
The following webinars are arranged by City staff to provide information and guidance on the benchmarking and reporting process:
Benchmarking 101 Webinar
Join the Better Buildings Partnership team to learn more about the benchmarking process and the benefits of benchmarking for building owners, managers, and occupants.
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Time: Noon – 12:45 p.m.
Registration link: https://bit.ly/BBPapr27
EWRB: Reporting Using Energy Star Portfolio Manager
Join the Better Buildings Partnership team for a step-by-step tutorial on the energy and water benchmarking and reporting process using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
Date: TBD
Time: TBD
To be notified when this webinar is scheduled, please contact the Better Buildings Partnership team at bbp@toronto.ca.
To request your EWRB ID or update your reporting lead contact information, please contact EWRB Support by:
For 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 potential energy efficiency opportunities for your building and access available incentives and financing for energy retrofit projects. Once you have submitted your EWRB data, you will receive a confirmation email including a summary of the data for your building.
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.