The CRD, in collaboration with the District of Saanich and the City of Victoria, launched the regional CRD Building Benchmarking Program to help local governments track, manage and reduce energy use and carbon emissions from large buildings. This supports bylaws approved in 2025 in Saanich and Victoria (District of Saanich Bylaw No. 10147) and City of Victoria Bylaw No. 25-022).
Owners of large buildings in Victoria and Saanich are required to submit their annual energy use and carbon emissions to the CRD starting in 2026. Other buildings on the Covered Buildings List can report their energy use and carbon emissions voluntarily. The program is being phased in over two years. This program does not apply to single family homes.
The Covered Buildings List [XLSX/350KB] shows all buildings that can take part in the CRD Benchmarking program and those buildings required to report in the City of Victoria and the District of Saanich. To join, you'll need to find your building in the list and claim it in the Building Owner Portal. You can search the list by Building ID or Property Address.
The CRD Building Benchmarking Program provides a Building Owner Portal, where building owners claim their buildings, report their buildings energy and carbon emissions, and check the status of their submission. Once reporting is completed building owners can also access a building benchmarking score card for each of their buildings.
February 2026: Reporting system launches. Assistance is available through the CRD.
June 1, 2026: Buildings over 30,000 square feet (2,787 square metres) must report their 2025 data.
June 1, 2027: Buildings over 10,000 square feet (929 square metres) must report their 2026 data.
June 1, 2028 and ongoing: Buildings over 10,000 square feet (929 square metres) must report their prior years data.
From 2026 onward, the CRD will provide the following assistance:
Help Desk: available to answer questions, provide support, or help troubleshoot issues. Contact support@crdbenchmarking.ca to open a help desk ticket.
Webinars and Training: live online or recorded sessions about the reporting requirement and how to comply.
Data Interpretation Tools: tools to help building owners and managers improve energy management practices, including an annual report with comparisons of energy use in similar buildings. These tools will help owners identify ways to save energy, reduce emissions and cut costs.
Energy and Carbon Emissions Reporting, also known as Benchmarking, is the process of measuring and reporting a building’s energy performance over time. The data will be used to improve community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and strengthen climate-related programs and policies for existing buildings. Moreover, building owners and managers may use the data to inform energy management practices.
Benchmarking and disclosure have been shown to drive action and yield cumulative average energy savings of 7% over three years.
Bylaws
City of Victoria Energy and Carbon Emissions Reporting Bylaw No. 25-022.
You can see energy and carbon emissions reporting in practice by checking out Building Benchmark BC (BBBC), North America’s largest voluntary benchmarking program.
Related Regional Programs
There are a range of programs and incentives to support energy efficiency and low-carbon retrofits through the City of Victoria and District of Saanich:
The CRD conducts its business within the Territories of many First Nations, all of whom have a long-standing relationship with the land and waters from time immemorial that continues to this day. Statement of Reconciliation
