Quick answer
As of October 2026, Ontario’s main heat pump rebate is the Home Renovation Savings Program (HRS). Enbridge Gas and the IESO’s Save on Energy run it together, with support from the Ontario government. A qualifying cold-climate air-source heat pump earns up to $2,000 if your home is heated by Enbridge natural gas, or up to $7,500 if it is heated by electricity, oil, propane or wood. You don’t need an energy assessment for a heat pump. You do need a participating contractor and pre-approval before installation. If you’re in Kitchener and heat with natural gas from Kitchener Utilities, the program’s rules currently exclude you. That’s covered below.
Programs change often. Everything here was checked against the official program pages in October 2026. Treat every amount as “up to”, and check current eligibility on homerenovationsavings.ca before you sign anything.
What the Home Renovation Savings Program pays for heat pumps
The Home Renovation Savings Program pays heat pump rebates by the ton of heating capacity. The rate depends on what you heat with today. These are the amounts posted on the program’s heat pump page in October 2026:
| Your current heating | Heat pump type | Rate | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enbridge Gas natural gas furnace or boiler | Cold-climate air-source | $500 per ton | Up to $2,000 |
| Enbridge Gas natural gas furnace or boiler | Ground-source | n/a | $3,000 |
| Electricity, oil, propane or wood (on the Ontario grid) | Cold-climate air-source | $1,250 per ton | Up to $7,500 |
| Electricity, oil, propane or wood (on the Ontario grid) | Ground-source | $2,000 per ton | Up to $12,000 |
| Rented heat pump (any heating fuel) | Cold-climate air-source | $500 per ton | Up to $2,000 |
| Rented heat pump (any heating fuel) | Ground-source | n/a | $3,000 |
A few details matter when you read that table:
- Air-source capacity is measured at 8.3°C (47°F). The program uses the unit’s minimum rated heating capacity at that temperature. A 3-ton heat pump in an Enbridge gas-heated home would be in line for about $1,500, not the full $2,000.
- The equipment must be on Natural Resources Canada’s qualified products list for cold-climate air-source heat pumps (or the right ground-source list). Plenty of heat pumps sold in Ontario are not on it. Check the exact outdoor and indoor model numbers before you buy.
- “Up to” means a cap. The program also says other funding for the same heat pump can’t take you past 100% of the supply-and-install cost.
The headline “up to $12,000” you’ll see on the program’s home page applies to ground-source (geothermal) systems in homes that don’t heat with gas. For most homes in Waterloo Region, the realistic figure is $2,000 (gas-heated) or $7,500 (electric, oil or propane).
Who qualifies
You qualify for an HRS heat pump rebate if you own the home and it is one of the eligible housing types, and either:
- you are an active Enbridge Gas residential customer and you mainly heat with a natural gas furnace or boiler, or
- your home is connected to the Ontario electricity grid and you heat with electricity, oil, propane or wood.
Eligible homes are single detached, semi-detached, row houses, townhomes and mobile homes on a permanent foundation. Stacked townhomes are excluded from the assessment rebates. New builds occupied for six months or less don’t qualify. If you rent out the home, the owner has to apply.
For oil-heated homes, the program says the new electric heating has to be sized to fully offset the oil heating load. You don’t have to remove the oil system, but the oil tank may need a TSSA-registered contractor.
There is no income test for the HRS rebates. The income-qualified programs are separate, and they’re covered further down.
Kitchener Utilities customers: the catch
If you live in Kitchener, or in the parts of Wilmot and Woolwich served by Kitchener Utilities, check who your gas distributor is before you count on a rebate. Kitchener Utilities is a separate gas utility, not Enbridge.
The program’s own FAQ is direct about this: if your home is mainly heated by natural gas and you are not an Enbridge Gas customer, you are not eligible. In August 2025, City of Kitchener staff recommended that Kitchener Utilities join the program through a “one-window” agreement with Enbridge. As of October 2026, we could not find any confirmation that the agreement is in place. The HRS site still excludes non-Enbridge gas customers, and Kitchener Utilities’ current-offers page lists no heat pump rebate.
Here’s what that means in practice for a Kitchener homeowner:
- Gas-heated through Kitchener Utilities: under the rules posted in October 2026, you don’t qualify for the HRS heat pump rebate. Call Kitchener Utilities (519-741-2450) or the program to ask whether that has changed.
- Heated by electricity, oil, propane or wood: your electricity comes from Enova Power on the Ontario grid, so you can apply under the electric-grid path, which pays up to $7,500.
- Kitchener Utilities’ own credits: the utility lists a $500 bill credit for a condensing water heater and a $75 bill credit for a smart thermostat. Neither is a heat pump rebate.
Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and most of the townships get their gas from Enbridge, so the standard rules apply there.
How to apply, step by step
For heat pumps, applying to the Home Renovation Savings Program takes four steps, and the order matters:
- Check eligibility online. Fill in the eligibility form on homerenovationsavings.ca. It confirms which path you’re on and gives you a list of participating HVAC contractors.
- Choose a participating contractor and pick the equipment. The contractor sizes the system, confirms the model is on the NRCan cold-climate list, and submits the pre-installation application for you.
- Wait for pre-approval. Installations done before approval are not eligible. Nothing should be ordered or installed until you have it.
- Install, then apply after installation. After the work, the contractor submits the post-installation application. The program says the rebate cheque should arrive by mail within 60 days of approval.
Before you hire anyone, ask the contractor directly whether they are on the HRS participating contractor list. Falconridge is not currently an HRS participating contractor, so if the HRS rebate is essential to your budget, ask us about it up front. The program warns about scammers who build fake rebate websites and pose as participating contractors. Apply only through homerenovationsavings.ca, and don’t give personal details to anyone who calls or knocks offering a rebate.
Where the energy assessment fits (and where it doesn’t)
You don’t need an energy assessment for a heat pump. The program has two tracks.
- No-assessment track (one or more upgrades): heat pumps, attic insulation through a participating contractor, smart thermostats, some appliances, and solar with battery storage.
- Assessment track (two or more upgrades): wall, basement, crawlspace and exposed-floor insulation, windows and doors at $100 per opening, air sealing, and heat pump water heaters at $500. You book an initial assessment with a registered energy advisor before any work starts, complete at least two recommended upgrades, then book a follow-up assessment. You pay for both assessments up front and get a $600 assessment rebate after you finish. A $500 bonus applies when you complete three qualifying upgrades.
If you’re planning a heat pump and also want to insulate, it can be worth doing both. A tighter house needs a smaller heat pump, and the insulation rebates on the assessment track are separate from the heat pump rebate. The program doesn’t allow stacking incentives from Enbridge, Save on Energy or the Ontario government on the same measure, so each upgrade gets one rebate.
Oil, propane and income-qualified programs
Homes heated with oil or propane get the higher HRS rate: up to $7,500 for a cold-climate air-source heat pump. On top of that, two other programs have been relevant:
| Program | Status as of October 2026 | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
| Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA), federal | Closed to new applications. July 31, 2026 was the last day to apply. Approved applicants must finish and upload receipts by January 31, 2027. | Up to $10,000 toward a heat pump, plus some related costs, for approved low-to-median-income oil-heated households |
| Energy Affordability Program (EAP), Save on Energy | Open, income-qualified | A free cold-climate air-source heat pump for income-eligible households with electric or oil heating. The FAQ says the oil offer currently covers homes with above-ground oil tanks and includes removing the tank. |
| Home Renovation Savings, Enbridge + Save on Energy | Open, no income test | Up to $7,500 for cold-climate air-source in homes heated by electricity, oil, propane or wood |
The EAP pages don’t mention propane-heated homes for the free heat pump offer. If you heat with propane, call the program at 1-844-770-3148 to ask.
Federal programs: Greener Homes is closed, and a new rebate has been announced
The Canada Greener Homes Loan is closed. Natural Resources Canada says October 1, 2025 was the last day to apply. The interest-free loan went up to $40,000. The Canada Greener Homes Grant is also closed in Ontario. If a website still advertises either one for new applicants, it’s out of date.
A new national heat pump rebate was announced on October 8, 2026. Here’s what was reported:
- $2 billion in total funding
- up to $10,000 for low- to median-income households, and up to $2,000 for households above the median income
- an online portal, with payment by direct deposit
- a launch target of early 2027
What we don’t know yet: the official program name, the full eligibility rules, whether installs done before launch will count (officials said they are “exploring options”), and whether it will stack with the provincial rebate. We’ll update this guide once the program publishes its rules. Until then, don’t plan around the federal amount.
What the rebate means for your total cost
The rebate takes a slice off the cost, but it doesn’t make a heat pump cheap. As a rough example, a 3-ton cold-climate heat pump in an Enbridge gas-heated home would be in line for about $1,500 (3 × $500). The same unit in a baseboard-heated home would be in line for $3,750 (3 × $1,250). Installed costs in Waterloo Region usually run well into five figures. Our heat pump cost guide for Ontario covers typical installed price ranges, and the heat pump cost calculator lets you put in your own home size and heating fuel.
Running costs matter too. At October 2026 gas and electricity rates, a heat pump costs more to run than a high-efficiency gas furnace in most Waterloo Region homes. It costs far less to run than baseboard, oil or propane. Our heat pump vs furnace comparison works through the numbers and explains why many gas-heated homes choose a dual-fuel setup.
If you’re ready to look at equipment, our heat pump installation page explains how we size cold-climate and dual-fuel systems for local winters. If you’d rather spread the cost, see financing options.
A checklist before you sign
- Confirm your gas distributor (Enbridge or Kitchener Utilities) from your bill.
- Check your eligibility on homerenovationsavings.ca and note which rate applies to you.
- Ask the contractor whether they are on the HRS participating contractor list.
- Get the exact outdoor and indoor model numbers and confirm they’re on NRCan’s cold-climate air-source heat pump list.
- Ask for the rated heating capacity at 8.3°C (47°F), because it sets your rebate.
- Don’t order or install anything until the pre-installation application is approved.
- Keep your invoice, model and serial numbers, and approval emails until the cheque arrives.
- If you’re planning insulation too, book the energy assessment before that work starts.
Rebate rules change, sometimes with little notice. The amounts and dates here reflect the official program pages as of October 2026. If something doesn’t match what you see on homerenovationsavings.ca, go with the program site.