Home Renovation Savings Program Ontario 2026

It depends on the upgrade, the stream and the home’s existing primary heating source. Current assessment-stream amounts include $600 for the assessments, up to $7,700 for insulation, $100 per qualifying rough opening for windows and doors, up to $250 for air sealing and $500 for a heat pump water heater. Qualifying projects completing three upgrades can receive an additional $500 bonus. No-assessment offers include heat pumps, solar and battery storage, attic insulation, smart thermostats and appliances. Heat-pump caps range from up to $2,000 for an Enbridge-natural-gas home’s cold-climate air-source system to up to $12,000 for qualifying ground-source systems in homes primarily heated with electricity, oil, propane or wood. Confirm the exact stream before budgeting.

The $12,000 maximum is for a qualifying ground-source heat pump where the existing primary heat is electricity, oil, propane or wood. A cold-climate air-source heat pump in those homes is up to $7,500. For an Enbridge-natural-gas home, the current caps are up to $2,000 for a cold-climate air-source system and $3,000 for a ground-source system. A participating contractor and written pre-approval are mandatory before installation.

The current public program pages reviewed on July 29, 2026 do not state the November 30, 2026 deadline previously shown on this page. The administrators can change program terms and availability, so check the official program page and the terms for your exact upgrade before purchasing equipment, signing a contract or starting work.

Not for every upgrade. Insulation, windows and doors, air sealing and heat pump water heaters use the assessment stream and require an initial assessment before work, at least two qualifying upgrades and a follow-up assessment. The assessment rebate is $600. Qualifying projects with three upgrades and a post-renovation assessment dated January 5, 2026 or later can receive an additional $500 bonus. Heat pumps, solar and storage, standalone attic insulation, smart thermostats and appliances use no-assessment streams, but some still require a participating contractor and written pre-approval.

The assessment stream requires at least two qualifying upgrade categories. Different work within one category may still count as only one upgrade—for example, windows and doors are combined as one category. Projects completing three qualifying upgrades may receive an additional $500 bonus when the post-renovation assessment date is January 5, 2026 or later. Confirm how the program counts your planned measures before work begins.

No – and this is the single most expensive mistake homeowners make with this program. If your upgrade falls under the assessment-required stream, the pre-retrofit energy assessment must be completed before any of that work begins. Starting early, even by a day, can disqualify the rebate, because the program uses the baseline assessment to measure the improvement. It does not matter how ready your contractor is or how good the price looks this week; if the rules require an assessment first, doing the work early is the rebate equivalent of forgetting to hit record. Book the assessment, get your baseline report in hand, and only then schedule the work.

No. Rebate eligibility and permit requirements are completely separate systems, and a rebate does not exempt you from the Ontario Building Code or your municipality’s permit rules. Many energy renovations – structural changes, major HVAC work, and some window alterations – trigger a permit, and skipping it can cause far more expensive problems than any rebate is worth, including orders to remove or redo work. Treat the permit as part of the project from the start, confirm what your specific scope requires with your local building department, and keep the permit and rebate paperwork in the same tidy folder. The best outcome is the rebate you receive that also leaves you with a clean, inspected, code-compliant renovation.

For most Ontario homes the most reliable comfort and energy wins come from the building envelope before the mechanical systems: air sealing first, then insulation, then heating and cooling equipment. Air sealing is inexpensive and punches above its weight because the best insulation does little if warm air is leaking into the attic. Attic insulation combined with air sealing usually delivers the most noticeable comfort improvement and strong return. Heat pumps can be excellent, but they perform and pay back best when the envelope is already decent and the system is properly sized and installed – putting a big heat pump on a leaky, under-insulated house is like buying a bigger furnace because your windows are drafty. Fix the bones first, then let the mechanical rebate work on a house that is ready for it.

These are renovation incentives for eligible existing homes. The current heat-pump rules specifically exclude new-build homes occupied for six months or less. Other streams also have their own home and occupancy requirements. A new custom home should be budgeted and designed without assuming these renovation rebates will apply.