SHERBROOKE – A new federal heat pump rebate program will launch early next year, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday.
The program will make up to $10,000 available to households that make the switch. The program’s full details haven’t been finalized.
Carney made the announcement at the home of a heating and cooling system manufacturer in Sherbrooke, Que., alongside Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney makes his way to Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The government is budgeting $2 billion over eight years with a target of retrofitting one million homes.
“Over one million households in Canada still heat with oil, propane, or diesel. These fuel sources are more polluting, less efficient, and at the mercy of global markets,” Carney said.
“Right now, those markets are hitting families hard. Heating a home with oil costs 70 per cent more than it did in 2024, at least $2,500 more per household every year.”
Households below the median income level can get up to $10,000 back on a heat pump purchase, while other homeowners can get $2,000 by switching to a heat pump.
Ottawa is in the process of winding down an existing program to subsidize purchases of heat pumps for homes heated with oil. As of March, the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program helped to install more than 30,000 heat pumps across the country.
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In a document detailing some elements of the new program, the government said homeowners could apply for the rebate when their current heating system breaks down, or when it’s approaching the end of its life.
But government officials briefing reporters on background ahead of the announcement said having a heating system fail isn’t necessarily a requirement for eligibility in the new program.
Prime Minister Mark Carney rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The officials said government data shows 80 per cent of HVAC replacements in Canada happen when current systems break and the new program is trying to target that group.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.
— With files from Nick Murray in Ottawa