Ontario Government HVAC Rebates 2026 – What Windsor Homeowners Qualify For
- Mar 19
- 6 min read
If you've been thinking about upgrading your furnace, adding a heat pump, or switching to a more energy-efficient system, 2026 is a good year to act, but the rebate landscape has shifted significantly.
Several Ontario government HVAC rebates programs that Windsor homeowners used in previous years have now closed, and new ones have taken their place.
At Encore Mechanical, we help Windsor-Essex homeowners navigate these programs every day. Here's a plain-English breakdown of what's actually available right now, what you qualify for, and how the process works.
What Programs Are Currently Available?
1. Home Renovation Savings Program (Main Program for Most Windsor Homeowners)
The Home Renovation Savings Program is now the primary rebate program for Ontario homeowners. It's delivered jointly by Enbridge Gas and Save on Energy, with support from the Ontario government, and runs through November 30, 2026.
It covers a range of energy efficiency upgrades, including heat pumps, smart thermostats, insulation, windows, and solar, with two paths to access it:
Single Upgrade (no energy audit required): For heat pumps and smart thermostats, you can apply without a home energy assessment. Faster and simpler, good if you know what you want.
Bundled Upgrades (energy audit required): If you're doing two or more upgrades together (e.g., heat pump + insulation), you'll need a pre- and post-retrofit EnerGuide evaluation from a Registered Energy Advisor. This path unlocks higher total rebates, plus a $600 rebate to cover the cost of the energy assessments themselves. And if you complete three or more qualifying upgrades, there's an additional $500 bonus rebate.
Apply here: homerenovationsavings.ca
Heat Pump Rebates: What You Actually Qualify For
This is where most Windsor homeowners get surprised. The rebate amount depends heavily on what fuel your home currently uses for heating. The program is designed to give larger incentives to homes moving away from higher-carbon or less-efficient heating sources.
Cold-Climate Air Source Heat Pumps
Primary Heating Fuel | Incentive Rate | Maximum Rebate |
Electricity, Propane, or Oil | $1,250 per ton | $7,500 |
Natural Gas (Enbridge) | $500 per ton | $2,000 |
What this means in practice: if your home is heated with Enbridge natural gas, which covers the majority of Windsor-Essex, a typical 2.5-ton system qualifies for $1,250 back, not $7,500. The higher rebates are reserved for homes transitioning away from oil, propane, or electric resistance heating.
This is important to know before you get quotes. It doesn't mean the upgrade isn't worth doing for a gas-heated home. A heat pump paired with your existing furnace (called a "dual fuel" or hybrid system) still significantly reduces your gas bills and your carbon footprint. But the rebate math is different, and you should go in with accurate expectations.
Ground Source (Geothermal) Heat Pumps
Primary Heating Fuel | Maximum Rebate |
Electricity, Propane, or Oil | $12,000 |
Natural Gas (Enbridge) | $3,000 |
Ground source systems are more expensive to install but offer the highest efficiency. They draw heat from the earth rather than the air, so performance doesn't drop on cold days. For Windsor homes with sufficient lot size, the long-term savings are substantial.
The "Dual Fuel" Strategy for Windsor Gas-Heated Homes
For the majority of Windsor-Essex homes on natural gas, the most practical path is a dual fuel (hybrid) system: a cold-climate heat pump handles your heating and cooling during most of the year, while your existing gas furnace takes over only when temperatures drop below roughly -5°C to -10°C.
This approach makes a lot of sense in Windsor's climate. Our winters are cold but not extreme. The heat pump handles the shoulder seasons and milder winter days efficiently, and you're not burning gas unnecessarily for eight months of the year. The furnace is there for backup, not daily use.
The result is meaningfully lower gas bills, a more comfortable home (heat pumps also cool and dehumidify in summer), and you're still eligible for the rebate program through the single-upgrade path, no energy audit required.
Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program (OHPA) — For Oil-Heated Homes
If your home currently uses heating oil, a separate and much larger program applies. The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program offers up to $25,000 in combined federal and provincial funding for eligible Ontario households, delivered upfront, before installation costs hit your account.
In Ontario, this program is co-delivered through the IESO's Save on Energy program:
Up to $15,000 from the federal government (Natural Resources Canada)
Up to $10,000 from the province (IESO)
Plus a $250 bonus payment
Who qualifies: Ontario homeowners with median or below household income who currently use heating oil and are connected to the Ontario electricity grid. All installations must be completed by IESO-approved contractors. Ontario homeowners must apply through IESO, not the federal portal, to access the full $25,000.
Apply here: saveonenergy.ca
Smart Thermostat Rebate
A $100 rebate is available on eligible ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostats, no energy assessment required. You can apply for a rebate code before you buy, or submit within 60 days after purchase.
Apply here: homerenovationsavings.ca
A Windsor-Specific Note: The R-DEER Program
Windsor is one of the few Ontario municipalities with its own dedicated residential retrofit initiative, the Residential Deep Energy Efficiency Retrofit (R-DEER) program, developed under Windsor's Community Energy Plan. It targets homes built prior to 2018 and focuses on deep retrofits that achieve meaningful reductions in energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the more practical aspects of R-DEER is the exploration of PACE financing (Property Assessed Clean Energy), which would allow homeowners to repay retrofit costs through their property tax bill rather than upfront. This means if you sell the home before the investment pays off, the repayment obligation transfers to the new owner, removing one of the most common hesitations around major energy upgrades.
R-DEER is worth asking about if you're planning a significant whole-home retrofit. It's designed to stack with provincial programs like the HRSP, not replace them.
What Happened to the Greener Homes Grant?
Many Windsor homeowners ask about the Canada Greener Homes Grant — it was a popular program that offered up to $5,600 for HVAC upgrades. That program is now fully closed. The last day to submit documents was December 31, 2025. The Enbridge Home Efficiency Rebate Plus (HER+) program, which ran alongside it in Ontario, is also closed.
The Home Renovation Savings Program is the replacement. For most single HVAC upgrades, it's actually more accessible, no energy audit required for heat pumps installed on their own.
Key Deadlines to Know
Action | Deadline |
Pre-installation audit (bundled path) | Must happen before any work begins |
Rebate application after purchase | Within 60 days |
Post-retrofit audit (bundled path) | Within 180 days of pre-audit |
Program expiry | November 30, 2026 |
The history of Ontario's rebate programs, the Greener Homes Grant, HER+, GreenON before it, shows that these programs can close early when funding runs out. Acting before the busy spring and summer season also means better scheduling availability and no urgency premium on installation.
Quick Reference: 2026 Ontario Government HVAC Rebates for Windsor Homeowners
Program | Upgrade | Max Rebate | Audit Required? | Apply |
Home Renovation Savings | Cold-climate heat pump (electric/oil/propane homes) | $7,500 | No (single upgrade) | |
Home Renovation Savings | Cold-climate heat pump (gas homes) | $2,000 | No (single upgrade) | |
Home Renovation Savings | Ground source heat pump (electric/oil/propane) | $12,000 | Yes (bundled) | |
Home Renovation Savings | Ground source heat pump (gas homes) | $3,000 | Yes (bundled) | |
Home Renovation Savings | Heat pump water heater | $500 | No (single upgrade) | |
Home Renovation Savings | Smart thermostat | $100 | No | |
Home Renovation Savings | Energy assessments (bundled path) | $600 | — | |
OHPA (oil-heated homes only) | Heat pump (oil to electric) | $25,000 | No |
What Encore Does Differently
We've helped dozens of Windsor-Essex families claim rebates they didn't know they qualified for, and we've seen rebates get denied because the equipment installed wasn't on the NRCan qualified products list, or because paperwork wasn't filed in the right order. Both are avoidable with the right contractor.
When you book with Encore, we:
Identify which programs apply to your home and fuel source before we quote so the rebate numbers you hear are accurate
Only install equipment that's on the NRCan qualified products list
Provide all documentation required for rebate applications
Answer questions along the way, real people, not a call centre
We're a second-generation local business and have been serving Windsor-Essex for 40+ years. This is our community too.
Ready to See What You Qualify For?
The program runs until November 30, 2026, but funding can run out before the deadline, and spring books fast. If you're considering a heat pump or HVAC upgrade this year, now is the right time to get an estimate.
Last updated March 2026. Program amounts and eligibility are subject to change. The Canada Greener Homes Grant and Enbridge HER+ are both closed as of early 2026. Always verify current terms directly with program administrators before making purchasing decisions.
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