Ottawa will pay up to $10,000 to help you replace your furnace with an electric heat pump.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the new National Heat Pump Rebate on Oct. 8 in Sherbrooke, Que. It's part of a $2-billion, eight-year plan to retrofit one million homes. Applications are expected to open in early 2027.
But there's a catch for Alberta.
In a briefing before the announcement, federal officials said that where natural gas is cheap, switching to a heat pump won't save money. Alberta's regulated gas price for October is $1.60 per gigajoule.
So the real question for most Albertans isn't how much Ottawa will pay. It's whether a heat pump would cost less to run than the furnace you have.
How much you can get
Up to $10,000 if your household income is below the median
$2,000 for other eligible homeowners
Ottawa hasn't said yet what the median income cutoff will be.
How it works
Apply online with basic information and the heat pump you plan to buy. No energy audit is needed, before or after.
Get approved within 24 hours. The goal is to let you install a heat pump as fast as a replacement furnace when yours breaks down.
Install it. The unit has to be on the government's eligible products list, which has more than 100,000 options.
Upload your receipts. Ottawa says payment will be approved within five days, and paid by direct deposit.
It's one rebate per person. A landlord who claims it for a rental can't also claim it for their own home.
You can apply when your heating system breaks down, or when it's near the end of its life. The government says about a million Canadian homes replace their heating system every year, and more than 80 per cent of the time it's because the old one broke without warning.
Will it save you money in Alberta?
It depends on what heats your home now.
Ottawa says a heat pump saves households heating with oil, propane or electric baseboards more than $1,400 a year on average.
That number isn't about natural gas. And most Alberta homes heat with gas.
For a typical Edmonton or Calgary house with a furnace that still works, the rebate probably isn't a reason to switch. You'd be swapping cheap gas for electricity, and Alberta power bills come with hefty delivery charges on top of the energy itself.
Who in Alberta it could help
Homes on propane or heating oil. Common on acreages, farms and rural properties off the gas line. These are the homes the program was built for.
Homes with electric baseboards or an electric furnace. A heat pump moves heat instead of making it, so it uses far less electricity to do the same job.
Anyone whose furnace is about to die. Then you're not comparing a heat pump to free. You're comparing it to a new furnace, and the rebate could cover much of the gap.
Anyone planning to add air conditioning. A heat pump heats in winter and cools in summer, so it can replace two purchases with one.
Do heat pumps work in an Alberta winter?
Newer cold-climate heat pumps keep heating well below zero. But they lose capacity as it gets colder, and Alberta cold snaps can sit below -30 C for days.
That's why many Alberta homes pair a heat pump with a gas furnace that takes over on the coldest days. It's called a dual-fuel or hybrid system. Others use electric backup heat.
Ottawa hasn't said yet whether hybrid systems qualify for the rebate.
If you're getting quotes, ask each installer what the system will cost to run for a year in your home, and what happens at -35 C.
What we don't know yet
The income cutoff for the $10,000 rebate
The exact launch date
Whether hybrid systems qualify
Whether a heat pump installed before launch will count. Don't assume it will.
Edmonton and Calgary have financing, too
Both cities run a Clean Energy Improvement Program, which lets homeowners finance energy upgrades and repay them through their property tax bill.
It's a loan, not a rebate. Check current terms with your city, and whether it can be combined with the federal rebate once the rules are out.
Apartments and renters
Most renters won't get a cheque. The plan's apartment money goes to building owners: CMHC will help finance retrofits in up to 250,000 rental units, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank in up to 30,000 more.
Watch for scams
The program isn't open. If someone at your door or on the phone says they can sign you up for the $10,000 rebate today, they can't.
One deadline that's coming up sooner
Alberta's separate $100 Energy Rebate closes Oct. 31. Here's how to apply, plus every benefit payment date this month.
Sources
Prime Minister Carney announces landmark investment to retrofit one million homes, Environment and Climate Change Canada, October 8, 2026
One million home energy retrofits, Government of Canada
Natural Gas Rebate Program, Government of Alberta
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