Falling ‘dominoes’: Nanaimo latest B.C. municipality to ban natural gas heating in new homes

Chris Bowen is expecting sales of gas fireplaces to go up in smoke after Nanaimo banned natural gas as the primary heating source in new homes.

“No one will put in a gas fireplace if they can’t get a gas line to their house,” he said.

Bowen is calling on the B.C. government to rethink the move away from natural gas laid out in the zero-carbon step code, a B.C. building code update that’s being adopted by a growing number of municipalities ahead of the province’s 2030 target.

Along with Nanaimo, where the ban will come into effect July 1, 2024, Saanich and Victoria are also early adopters of the step code, while Whistler, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Squamish and Port Coquitlam have taken steps to combat emissions from new buildings.