Heat Pump Rebate Calculator for Ontario

In short

The calculator multiplies your system size in tons by the provincial per-ton rate for your current heating fuel: $500 per ton for gas-heated homes, $1,250 per ton otherwise. Air-source results are then capped at $2,000 on the gas tier and $7,500 elsewhere, and up to $10,000 is added for an oil conversion. Nothing is payable unless the program approves the project before installation.

How much you can get

Gas-heated home, per ton of installed capacity $500 per ton, capped at $2,000
Electric, oil, propane or wood heat, per ton $1,250 per ton, capped at $7,500
Ground-source in a gas-heated home Flat $3,000
Ground-source with no gas heating $2,000 per ton, capped at $12,000
Added when an oil system is being replaced Up to $10,000

Who qualifies

The estimate assumes the provincial program rules are met: eligible property type, an existing home rather than a new build, and a qualified model installed by a participating contractor.
It assumes your eligibility form and your contractor's pre-installation application are both approved before installation begins, because that approval is mandatory.
The oil top-up assumes the household passes the federal income test and can prove oil is the primary heating fuel.
It assumes the tonnage entered is a real design figure from a heat-loss calculation.
It does not check your account status, your income, or whether your chosen model is on the qualified list.

A calculator is only as honest as its assumptions, so this page lists ours. Use the number it produces to decide whether a project is worth pursuing, not to decide what to sign.

What the calculator does with your answers

It performs one multiplication and applies one ceiling. Tons multiplied by the rate for your current fuel gives the provincial rebate, then the ceiling for your tier trims anything above the limit, and an oil conversion adds the federal grant on top. Ground-source is the exception to the multiplication: a gas-heated house is paid a flat $3,000 whatever the tonnage, and only a house without gas is paid per ton.

There is no hidden weighting for brand, efficiency tier or contractor. The program pays on capacity and fuel, so the estimator does too.

Three worked examples

A gas-heated 1970s two-storey in Millcroft, 3-ton ducted cold-climate system: 3 × $500 = $1,500 estimated.
An electrically heated townhouse, 2-ton ductless system: 2 × $1,250 = $2,500 estimated.
An oil-heated rural property converting to a 3-ton system: 3 × $1,250 = $3,750 provincially, plus up to $10,000 federally if the household qualifies.

The third example is the one that changes decisions. On the first two, the rebate improves the project; on an oil conversion it can transform it.

Where each ceiling starts to bite

On the gas tier the ceiling is low enough to matter in ordinary houses. At $500 per ton, four tons already reaches the $2,000 maximum, and plenty of GTA homes are sized at four or five — so on those, extra capacity earns no extra rebate at all. On the non-gas tier it takes six tons to reach $7,500, which is beyond most residential equipment, so nearly every home there is paid in full on every ton.

That arithmetic doubles as a sanity check on a quote. If a gas-heated house is shown collecting more than $2,000 on a cold-climate air-source system, someone has applied the non-gas rate to a home with a gas furnace in the basement — the single most common error we see on rebate lines.

Approval comes before the install, not after

One condition sits above every number on this page: the program must approve your eligibility form and your contractor's pre-installation application before any equipment goes in. Pre-approval is mandatory, and an install completed ahead of it earns nothing no matter what this calculator returned. Book the approval first, then the crew.

The five things the calculator cannot know

Whether the program will actually approve your application, which is decided before installation and cannot be promised by an estimate.
Whether the model you eventually choose is on the NRCan qualified list at that time.
Whether your house needs electrical service work, ductwork changes or line-set routing that the rebate does not cover.
Whether your household passes the federal income test for the oil conversion grant.
What the install itself will cost — for a real figure, start from the heat pump cost answer and then get a site visit.

Tonnage is the input that decides everything

Because the rebate scales with capacity, there is an obvious temptation to enter a larger number. Resist it. Oversized equipment short cycles, dehumidifies poorly in summer, and wears its compressor out early — and the rebate difference will not buy back the comfort.

One ton equals 12,000 BTU/h of capacity. The right figure comes from a heat-loss calculation on your house, and any contractor unwilling to show you theirs is guessing at your expense.

Getting from an estimate to a real number

A written quote should show equipment, labour, electrical work, permits and the rebate as separate lines, so you can see which figures are firm and which are conditional. That is how we write ours. Send us your address and current heating setup and we will replace the estimate with something you can rely on, or read the cold-climate heat pump guide first if you are still deciding.

How ZK Mechanical helps

Replace the estimated tonnage with a measured heat-loss figure for your specific house.
Confirm the equipment we propose is on the qualified list at the time of quoting.
Show the rebate as a conditional line rather than deducting it from the price you are asked to sign.
Tell you when a program has closed, instead of quoting money that cannot be claimed.
Handle the pre-installation application and the later claim once the numbers are real.

Frequently asked questions

Is the calculator's number what I will actually receive?

No. It is an estimate based on the program's published per-ton structure. Your actual rebate depends on eligibility, the equipment installed, the documentation submitted, and whether the program approved the project before it was installed.

Why does my neighbour's rebate differ from mine?

Almost always because of heating fuel or system size. A house on baseboards is paid two and a half times what an identical gas-heated house is paid for exactly the same equipment.

Does the calculator include the federal loan?

No, and the question is now moot: the Canada Greener Homes Loan has closed, with funding fully committed and no new applications being approved. Borrowed money repaid over years never belonged in a rebate total anyway.

What size system should I enter?

If you do not have a heat-loss calculation yet, enter the size of your existing system to get a rough sense of scale, then treat the result as provisional until the calculation is done.

Can I use this for a ground-source system?

It applies the higher cap for ground-source, but geothermal projects involve loop-field drilling and design work that a per-ton estimate says nothing about. Treat that result as a ceiling, not a quote.

Official sources

All Ontario HVAC rebates Home Renovation Savings Program Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program Cooling and heat pump services All rebate programs