There are also other systems to heat your home with the energy of the sun or the earth such as a Trombe wall or a Canadian well tapping geothermal energy.
http://www.sitiosolar.com/wp-content/up ... vierno.png

on a simple hot water solar heater can help you in summer but seeing those snowfall I do not think it is very hot there ...

Geothermal systems are a bit complicated in Canada, only the southern part of the country can implement it properly while the Northern (and coldest) part soil is frozen all year long, even in summer (permafrost ) down to 3 meters deep.

Apart from downtown cities, almost all individual housing is built out of timber old England style. Fortunately for Canadians, the country has a very low inhabitants ratio compared to its vast land surface. But we have a serious problem with big login corporations harvesting forests like crazy.