Page 40 of the Alberta Municipalities 2026 Resolutions Book. Resolution C5. Title, “Door-to-Door Solar Sales.”
Moved by the City of St. Albert. Seconded by the towns of Jasper, Rocky Mountain House and Westlock. It goes to the floor at the convention in Edmonton on Thursday, Sept. 24.
The ask is one sentence long. Alberta Municipalities would lobby the province to “enhance regulatory oversight for door-to-door solar PV sales.” That’s it. No ban in the text. No fine schedule. Oversight, and a conversation with the industry.
Small ask. Nine years late.
Key facts
- Alberta Municipalities’ 2026 Resolutions Book lists resolution C5, Door-to-Door Solar Sales, moved by the City of St. Albert and seconded by the towns of Jasper, Rocky Mountain House and Westlock, for the resolution session on September 24, 2026.
- According to alberta.ca, the Government of Alberta banned door-to-door sales of furnaces, water heaters, windows, air conditioners, energy audits and natural gas and electricity contracts effective January 1, 2017.
- Alberta Municipalities’ 2026 Resolutions Book states that 29 municipalities were running active Clean Energy Improvement Programs as of 2026, with over 1,000 projects completed and $125 million in financing made available.
- The Clean Energy Improvement Program lets property owners repay approved energy upgrades through their municipal property tax bill, and Alberta Municipalities’ 2026 Resolutions Book counts more than 675 Alberta contractors designated as CEIP Qualified Contractors.
Solar panels were left off Alberta’s 2017 door-to-door sales ban
On Jan. 1, 2017 the province stopped salespeople from knocking on your door to sell six things. Furnaces. Water heaters. Windows. Air conditioners. Energy audits. Natural gas and electricity contracts.
You can still invite a seller in. You can still buy by phone, online or at a store. What ended was the cold knock.
Solar panels weren’t on the list. The resolution’s own background says the ban “covers the majority of contractors” delivering municipal clean energy upgrades. Solar installers are the ones it misses.
So the furnace installer has to wait for an invitation. The solar seller doesn’t. Same program, same homeowner, different rules.
Resolution C5 ties the gap to misinformation about municipal clean energy loans
This is where it lands on your tax bill.
The Clean Energy Improvement Program, which municipalities run under a provincial regulation, lets a homeowner finance insulation, a heat pump or solar panels and pay it back through the property tax bill. In St. Albert, the city’s program page lists a minimum project of $3,000 and a term of 20 years or the useful life of the upgrade, whichever is shorter. In Edmonton, the city lists a residential range of $3,000 to $50,000.
That’s a loan attached to your house. Not to you. To the house.
The resolution says the gap in the door-to-door rules “has contributed to misinformation” about who qualifies for that financing and on what terms. It also says many municipalities have had to put more staff time into answering resident questions and complaints about what solar salespeople told them at the door.
Read that part twice. Municipal staff, paid from property taxes, correcting sales pitches made on your front step. That cost doesn’t show up as its own line anywhere. It gets absorbed. That’s how drift works. A rule written in 2016 never gets revisited, and the bill for the gap spreads across every desk that has to deal with it.
Alberta Municipalities has no position yet and the vote is Thursday
The association’s own comment on C5 is short. It says Alberta Municipalities “does not currently have an established policy position” on the issue. If the resolution passes, it goes to the province for a response.
That’s the process. A vote Thursday, a letter after, an answer at some point. Meanwhile the knocking continues. The province has already dealt with solar panels at the other end of their life, with new landfill rules for old panels. The front end of the sale is the part still open.
Here’s what to do.
Ask your councillor how your municipality voted on C5 on Sept. 24. If someone at your door says the town or city is financing their panels, get the company name and call your municipality’s Clean Energy Improvement Program office before you sign anything. Ask whether that contractor is on the qualified list. And if your council never joined the program, you already know that pitch was wrong.
Frequently asked questions
Are door-to-door solar sales banned in Alberta?
No. The province banned unsolicited door-to-door sales of six things effective January 1, 2017: furnaces, water heaters, windows, air conditioners, energy audits, and natural gas and electricity contracts. Solar panels were not on the list, so the furnace installer has to wait for an invitation while the solar seller does not.
What is Alberta Municipalities resolution C5?
Resolution C5, titled “Door-to-Door Solar Sales,” was moved by the City of St. Albert and seconded by the towns of Jasper, Rocky Mountain House and Westlock. Its ask is one sentence: Alberta Municipalities would lobby the province to “enhance regulatory oversight for door-to-door solar PV sales.” It went to the resolution session at the Edmonton convention on September 24, 2026. The vote result could not be verified at the time of drafting.
What is the Clean Energy Improvement Program?
The Clean Energy Improvement Program lets property owners repay approved energy upgrades through their municipal property tax bill. As of 2026, 29 municipalities were running active programs, with over 1,000 projects completed, $125 million in financing made available, and more than 675 Alberta contractors designated as CEIP Qualified Contractors, per the Alberta Municipalities 2026 Resolutions Book.
Why do municipalities want the 2017 ban fixed?
The resolution’s own background says the 2017 ban covers the majority of contractors delivering municipal clean energy upgrades, but solar installers are the ones it misses. It ties that gap to misinformation about municipal clean energy loans, consumer confusion and added administrative work for the municipalities running CEIP.
Do door-to-door solar companies charge more than other installers?
Jordan Kruhlak, founder of Glean Solar Broker, published an analysis of 567 residential solar quotes from Alberta homeowners: door-to-door companies averaged $3.30 per watt while non-door-knocking companies averaged $2.40 per watt, a 37.5% premium. He attributes the gap to high-pressure sales tactics, commissions and financing structures that make inflated prices hard to spot. That is his finding from his own quote review, not a government figure.
