CAN AD I AN O I L H E AT I N DU S T RY
Canada's Oil Heat Industry Reinvents Itself
How our Northern neighbors are competing with natural gas BY S T EP HEN B E N NE T T
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UEL OIL DEALERS IN CANADA FACE MANY OF THE SAME challenges as dealers in the U.S., including, in some regions, stiff competition from the natural gas industry. "It's not so bad in Atlantic Canada, especially where I live here in
Prince Edward Island," said Russell Noonan, current chairman of the Canadian Oil Heat Association (COHA) and president of Noonan Petroleum, Summerside, PEI. "People's choices for heating are very limited" in PEI, Noonan said. That is a contrast to Ontario, "where natural gas is a real big threat to the oil industry," Noonan said. In some instances, fuel oil dealers in Canada are addressing
challenges rather differently than U.S. dealers. "Retire your Tank" is a case in point. It is a campaign by
COHA to encourage homeowners across Canada to upgrade their storage tanks. The cash-back tank replacement program gives homeowners a $125 rebate on the purchase of select models. The
OCTOBER 2011 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
program was launched on May 15 and is scheduled to conclude on December 31. "The 'Retire your Tank' program is not only an effective way
to entice homeowners to upgrade their tanks, it's also a posi- tive signal to the insurance industry that our members take risk reduction and loss prevention very seriously," said Veronica Yu, president and chief executive officer of the association. The $125 rebate comprises contributions from heating equip-
ment retailers and participating tank manufacturers Granby, Vilco and Roth. "'Retire your Furnace' was a very successful program initiated
by the Nova Scotia government in 2006," Yu said. "We decided to use a similar approach with the tank replacement program since it's a concept that is very familiar to consumers." And it is also welcomed by insurers, Noonan said. "They're very,
