National Heat Pump Rebate 2026: Income Limits and How to Apply

Canada’s National Heat Pump Rebate pays $2,000 toward a cold-climate heat pump, or up to $10,000 if your household’s after-tax income is at or below the median for your province and household size. The government announced it on October 8, 2026, and confirmed it in Budget 2026 (opens in a new tab) on November 5. Heat pumps installed from November 1, 2026, count, but the online portal doesn’t open until early 2027, so nobody gets paid before then.

The details below come from the program page (opens in a new tab) as of November 8, 2026. The government says the rules are still being finalized and can change, so check that page again before you sign a contract.

How much is the National Heat Pump Rebate?

It’s $2,000 if your household earns more than the median for its size and province, and up to $10,000 if it earns the median or less. The exact amount depends on your income and on what the equipment costs, and the program hasn’t published that formula yet. Each household gets one rebate, even if it owns more than one property.

Ottawa has set aside $2 billion over eight years, enough for up to 820,000 households, and the program is expected to close in March 2034. The federal Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program (opens in a new tab) took its last applications on July 31, 2026, and the Canada Greener Homes Grant (opens in a new tab) is closed too.

What are the income limits for the $10,000 rebate?

To get the higher amount, your household’s after-tax income has to be at or below the figure for your province and household size. For this program, after-tax income means line 23600 (net income) minus line 43500 (total taxes payable) on your 2025 tax return. If you have a spouse or common-law partner, do the same for them and add the two.

These are Statistics Canada’s 2021 medians, adjusted for inflation to 2025 dollars. A couple of them look odd: Saskatchewan’s limit for five people is lower than its limit for four, and Nunavut’s two- and three-person limits are the same. That’s how the program publishes them.

If you live in Quebec, your provincial income tax isn’t on your federal return. Everywhere else, it goes on line 42800 (opens in a new tab) and so it’s part of line 43500. Quebecers pay it on their Revenu Québec return instead. So the program’s formula, taken as written, leaves Quebec tax out and makes a Quebec household’s after-tax income look higher than it is. The program hasn’t said whether it will adjust for that.

The program page doesn’t say yet who counts as part of your household. The program before it used the same kind of table and counted you, your spouse or common-law partner, and any dependants (opens in a new tab) supported by household income, so children usually counted.

Three households, worked out

The Ontario couple’s figure is two returns added together. One partner has $70,000 of net income and $12,000 of tax payable, which leaves $58,000. The other has $45,000 and $6,000 of tax, which leaves $39,000. Together that’s $97,000. Their two children make them a household of four, if the program counts dependants the way the last one did. If it counts only the two adults, their limit is $92,884 and they’d get $2,000.

When the portal opens, you’ll give your Social Insurance Number, and the Canada Revenue Agency will check your household income to decide which amount you get.

Who qualifies for the heat pump rebate?

You need to live in Canada and own the home. The heat pump has to be on the program’s eligible product list (opens in a new tab), and an HVAC contractor has to sell it to you and install it. The home doesn’t have to be your main residence, so a cottage or a house you rent out can qualify. You don’t need an energy audit before or after.

• Any heating fuel. Electricity (baseboards or an electric furnace), natural gas, oil, propane, diesel, coal and wood all qualify.
• Planned or emergency. A heat pump you’ve been planning counts, and so does one put in after your furnace dies in January.
• Sized for the whole home. The program supports systems that can heat your entire home, and it asks you to confirm with your contractor that yours is sized for that.
• No earlier federal money for a heat pump at that address. If a federal program already paid for one there, the address is out.
• Indigenous communities. If you live in a community where the local Indigenous government owns your home, you meet the ownership rule.

Is the heat pump rebate retroactive?

Yes, back to November 1, 2026. If you meet the rules and install an eligible heat pump on or after that date, you can claim the rebate once the portal opens in early 2027. A heat pump installed before November 1 isn’t covered. The program will assess your claim against the rules in force on the day of your install, and no money is guaranteed until a claim is approved.

So keep the contractor’s receipt. The program says it has to show:

• the name and address of the person who will apply
• the name of the company that installed the heat pump
• the make, model and AHRI number of the equipment
• how many heat pumps were installed
• the total cost of the project, including related work such as ductwork and electrical upgrades

You have to submit your receipts within six months. The page doesn’t say six months from when, so plan on six months from your install date. Before you sign, look up the model’s AHRI number on the product list yourself rather than relying on the quote.

Can you combine the federal rebate with a provincial one?

The Prime Minister’s announcement (opens in a new tab) says both rebate amounts “can be combined with existing provincial programs to bring the cost down even further.” The program page doesn’t mention it yet. Of the provincial programs below, only Efficiency Nova Scotia and Hydro-Québec mention the new rebate at all, and neither says how they’ll treat it.

You don’t need federal approval before the install, but several provincial programs need theirs before the work starts, so installing too early can cost you the provincial money:

• Ontario. The Home Renovation Savings Program says pre-approval is mandatory, and an install done before approval doesn’t qualify for a rebate.
• British Columbia. The Energy Savings Program needs you to pre-register and get an eligibility code before the work.
• Nova Scotia. Efficiency Nova Scotia’s rebates come after a home energy assessment, with a second one once the upgrades are done.
• Yukon. The Affordable Heat Pump Program needs approval before you install.

Also check where the provincial money comes from. Some programs for lower-income homes are paid partly with federal funds: Ontario’s Energy Affordability Program uses the old federal oil-to-heat-pump money for its free heat pumps in oil-heated homes, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Oil to Electric program uses federal funding, and several provinces deliver the federal Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program (opens in a new tab). It isn’t clear yet whether a heat pump from one of these programs counts as earlier federal money at that address. FortisBC, a BC energy utility, says its income-qualified heat pump rebate can’t be combined with federally funded rebate programs.

What each province offers for a heat pump

As of November 8, 2026. Each name links to the program’s own page, and a star means there’s a detail under the table.

British Columbia: $13,000 is the top amount for a central or three-head system replacing gas, propane or oil, at the lowest income level. Homes heated with electricity get a heat pump rebate only at that level, up to $5,000. The program also requires removing the old fossil fuel equipment, which the federal rebate doesn’t.

Ontario: $7,500 is for a cold-climate air-source heat pump in a home heated with electricity, oil, propane or wood, at $1,250 per ton. Ground-source systems get up to $12,000, and homes heated with Enbridge gas get $500 per ton, up to $2,000.

Quebec: LogisVert pays more for geothermal and for a central heat pump paired with a heat storage system, and you claim within nine months of the install. A new heat pump sold in Quebec also comes with a six-year legal warranty of good working order.

What does a heat pump cost, and will it lower your bills?

The federal government puts the average cost to buy and install a heat pump at $18,400 (opens in a new tab), including electrical panel work and, in some homes, removing an oil tank. On that bill, the federal rebate covers about 11% at $2,000, or about 54% at $10,000, before any provincial money.

Budget 2026 says households that switch from oil, propane or electric heating such as baseboards can save over $1,400 a year on average. Its own examples are bigger: $2,770 a year for a home in Regina moving off electric baseboards, and $2,270 for a home in Halifax moving off an oil furnace.

That’s before any provincial rebate, which can cut the cost a lot in Ontario, BC, Newfoundland and Labrador or Yukon, and before the cost of any loan you use to pay for it.

Natural gas is the exception. The program page itself warns that switching from gas may not lower your heating bills, depending on your region and the system you pick. If you heat with gas, ask the contractor for an estimate of your yearly cost both ways before you decide.

How do you apply for the heat pump rebate?

There’s nothing to apply for yet. The portal opens in early 2027, and you can fill in the program’s sign-up form (opens in a new tab) to get an email when it does. Budget 2026 says the program will give approvals within 24 hours. In the meantime, the steps are the same whether you install this winter or wait:

1. Check the model. Find its AHRI number on the eligible product list.
2. Check your province’s program first. If its program needs approval before the install, get it.
3. Hire an HVAC contractor and get a receipt with every detail listed above.
4. Find your 2025 tax figures, lines 23600 and 43500, for you and your spouse or partner.
5. Apply when the portal opens, with your Social Insurance Number.

Watch for heat pump rebate scams

The government says salespeople are knocking on doors and calling homes to sell heat pumps, using the rebate’s name to do it. Environment and Climate Change Canada doesn’t go door to door to inspect, sell or rent heating equipment, and it doesn’t make marketing calls. Call contractors yourself. If someone shows up claiming to be from the program, report it to Environment and Climate Change Canada at PNRT-NHPR@ec.gc.ca and to your local police. If you’ve already paid someone, our guide on getting your money back after a scam walks through the next steps.

Saving for the part the rebate doesn’t cover

Even with the bigger rebate, the average install leaves thousands of dollars to pay, and with a retroactive claim you pay the contractor months before any money comes back. Money set aside for the house covers both, and it means a furnace that dies in January doesn’t go on a credit card. Our guide to building an emergency fund covers how much to aim for.

Lodavo can make that fund more fun to build. It’s a free app. Connect your savings or chequing account, and every $25 in it earns a ticket in a weekly cash draw, with prizes up to $10,000. Every week, at least one user wins $100 or more. The fund stays in your own account.

Get Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab).

This article is general information, not tax or financial advice. Program details can change before the portal opens, so confirm them on the program page before you buy.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.