The National Heat Pump Rebate Is Coming: How to Get Ready in Nova Scotia
The National Heat Pump Rebate is a federal program announced on 8 October 2026. Households below the median income can receive up to 10,000 dollars toward an eligible electric cold-climate air-source heat pump, and other eligible households 2,000 dollars. You apply online, approval is confirmed within 24 hours and comes before the installation, you submit receipts afterwards, and payment is approved within five days. No energy audits are required, there is one rebate per person, and the Prime Minister's Office says it can be combined with provincial programs. It is not open yet: no opening date has been published, and Canadian Press reports officials are aiming for early 2027. Nothing announced says whether ductwork is covered. If your system is working, the useful thing to do now is get ready: have your house and, for a ducted system, your ductwork assessed, so the heat pump can go in the week your application is approved.
On 8 October 2026 the Prime Minister announced the National Heat Pump Rebate: up to $10,000 toward a heat pump, approved in 24 hours, no energy audits. It's the biggest new heat pump support Nova Scotians have seen since the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program closed here in July.
It also isn't open yet, and the details that decide what it's worth to you haven't been published. Here's what's been announced, what hasn't, whether to wait, and the part almost nobody is talking about: getting your house ready so the install can happen the week you're approved.
What's been announced
The rebate is part of a $2 billion, eight-year federal plan to retrofit a million homes, aimed at up to 820,000 households (Prime Minister's Office; Government of Canada).
| What the government has said | |
|---|---|
| Amount | Up to $10,000 for households below the median income; $2,000 for other eligible households |
| What it pays toward | An electric cold-climate air-source heat pump on a federal Eligible Products List |
| How you apply | An online portal. Approval within 24 hours, before you install. Receipts after installation, with payment approved within five days |
| Energy audits | None, before or after |
| Limit | One rebate per person |
| Other programs | The Prime Minister's Office says both levels "can be combined with existing provincial programs" |
| Opening date | Not announced. Canadian Press reported that officials are "aiming to launch the program in early 2027" |
The government is designing it around the moment most heating systems actually get replaced: when the old one fails. It describes homeowners applying "when their existing heating system breaks down," with a heat pump "installed as quickly as a furnace."
What isn't known yet
These are the details that decide what the rebate is worth to a particular house, and none of them is published:
- Whether ductwork, electrical upgrades or installation labour count. The announcements describe a rebate toward the heat pump and don't mention ducts.
- Which models qualify. The heat pump must be on the program's Eligible Products List. We couldn't find that list published on the Government of Canada's site; the lists online belong to the older Greener Homes program, so don't assume they carry over.
- How "median income" is measured, and whether it's household or individual.
- Whether your current fuel matters. The government's savings figure of "more than $1,400 annually" is for homes heating with oil, propane or electric resistance (furnaces and baseboards), but no fuel is stated as a condition.
- Whether anything installed before launch qualifies. Canadian Press reported that officials are "exploring options to extend a retroactive eligibility program." Nothing more.
- How it will run in Nova Scotia. Efficiency Nova Scotia says "at this time, limited information is available," and that it will publish eligibility, requirements and timelines as they come.
We'll update this page the day the program rules are published.
Should you wait?
It depends on what your heating is doing right now.
| Your situation | What we'd suggest |
|---|---|
| Your system works and you're planning a heat pump | Wait for the portal, and use the time to get the house ready (below). Approval comes before the install, so buying now is a bet on retroactivity nobody has promised |
| Your system is old and you're worried about this winter | Get it checked and the heat pump planned now, so you're ready to apply the day the portal opens rather than starting from scratch in a cold snap |
| Your system fails this winter | Don't go without heat for a rebate that isn't open. Replace what you need to, keep every receipt, and ask about retroactive eligibility when the rules come out |
| You heat with oil and your income is below the median | This is who the $10,000 level is for. The provincial Oil to Heat Pump program is closed, so this is likely your main route. See what's open in Nova Scotia today for the interim help |
You can sign up for federal updates on the One million home energy retrofits page.
Ducted or ductless?
The rebate, as announced, is for a cold-climate air-source heat pump. It doesn't say ducted or ductless, and both come in cold-climate models. So the first decision is the same one it always was, and it turns on the house:
- A house with forced-air ductwork (an oil or electric furnace) can usually take a ducted heat pump that heats every room through the ducts you already have, if those ducts can carry the air.
- A house with baseboards, hot-water rads or no ducts usually gets ductless heads in the main spaces, or new ductwork if the layout and budget suit it.
We go through that choice in detail in ducted vs ductless heat pumps in Halifax.
The part nobody is talking about: your ductwork
The rebate is built for speed: approved in a day, installed "as quickly as a furnace." For a ducted heat pump, that only works if the ductwork is ready, and in older Nova Scotia houses it often isn't.
A heat pump moves more air at a lower temperature than the oil furnace it replaces. Ducts sized for a furnace's short blasts of very hot air can be too small for it. The usual problems are:
| What we find | Why it matters for a heat pump | The usual fix |
|---|---|---|
| A trunk sized for a furnace | Not enough air reaches the far rooms, so they stay cold and the system works harder | Resize or rework the main trunk |
| Too little return air | The system starves for air: noisy, inefficient, hard on the equipment | Add return grilles, upsize the return trunk, give upper floors a path back |
| Leaky joints | Heated air escapes before it reaches a register | Seal the joints with mastic |
| A plenum that doesn't fit the new unit | The air handler and the existing trunk don't line up | A fabricated plenum and transition |
None of that is in the announcement. Plan as if the ductwork may not be covered by the rebate until the rules say otherwise. More importantly, it's the part you can sort out now, while the program is still being set up, so it isn't what holds up your install once you're approved. Our guides on whether you need new ductwork for a heat pump, sizing ducts for a ducted heat pump and the oil-furnace conversion explain what that work involves.
How to get ready: a checklist
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Now | Sign up for federal updates. Gather your last year of heating bills or oil receipts. Have the house assessed: what heats it, what the ductwork can carry, what the electrical panel can take |
| Now, if ducted | Get the ductwork checked and any resizing, return air or sealing scoped, so it's ready before the heat pump arrives |
| When the portal opens | Confirm the model you're planning is on the Eligible Products List, then apply. Don't install before you're approved unless the rules say you can |
| After approval | Book the install. With the ducts and the plan already settled, it can go ahead right away |
| After installation | Submit your receipts through the portal. Keep copies of everything |
Where we fit in
We install heat pumps, ducted and ductless, and do the ductwork they depend on, as one job with one point of contact. The refrigerant work is done by certified refrigeration technicians, as Nova Scotia requires. Because ductwork is our trade, we look at the whole system, not just the box: a heat pump on ducts that can't carry the air is the most common reason a conversion disappoints.
We don't quote prices before we've seen the house, and we don't administer the rebate. What we can do now is plan the job with you, so that when the portal opens you're applying with a project ready to go.
Sources
This page makes no cost claims about our work. Program details are taken from the primary government documents below and were verified on 12 October 2026. All amounts are Canadian dollars, and every source is Canadian.
- Prime Minister's Office: Prime Minister Carney announces landmark investment to retrofit one million homes, 8 October 2026. Source of the program name, the $10,000 / $2,000 amounts, up to 820,000 households, the online portal, approval within 24 hours, no audits, and combining with provincial programs.
- Government of Canada (Environment and Climate Change Canada): the announcement on Canada.ca (eligible electric cold-climate air-source heat pumps on the Eligible Products List, one rebate per person, receipts after installation, payment within five days, the breakdown framing, and the savings figure, whose basis isn't given); the backgrounder ($2 billion over eight years); and the One million home energy retrofits page (announced as upcoming; sign-up for updates).
- Canadian Press, via CP24, 8 October 2026: the only source for the early 2027 launch target and the retroactivity remark, both attributed to unnamed officials. A news report, not a program document.
- Efficiency Nova Scotia: Heat pump rebates ("limited information is available" on the federal rebate, checked 12 October 2026).
What we could not confirm
- The opening date, the Eligible Products List for this program, the income test, fuel rules, retroactivity, Nova Scotia delivery, and whether ductwork, electrical or labour are covered. None of it is published yet.
- The heat pump's airflow needs. The point that a heat pump moves more air at a lower temperature than a furnace is explained, with its sources, in our duct sizing guide; this page doesn't add new figures to it.
Related services
Frequently asked questions
When does the National Heat Pump Rebate open?
No opening date has been announced. The Government of Canada describes the rebate as upcoming and invites people to sign up for updates. Canadian Press reported that officials are aiming to launch the program in early 2027. Efficiency Nova Scotia says only limited information is available so far and that it will share eligibility, participation requirements and timelines as it receives them.
How much is the National Heat Pump Rebate?
Up to 10,000 dollars for households below the median income, and 2,000 dollars for other eligible households. It goes toward an eligible electric cold-climate air-source heat pump on the federal Eligible Products List. There is one rebate per person, and the Prime Minister's Office says both levels can be combined with existing provincial programs. How the median income will be measured has not been published.
Should I wait for the rebate before replacing my heating system?
If your current system is working, waiting is reasonable, because the program as announced approves your application before you install. Buying now and claiming later depends on retroactive eligibility, which officials are reportedly exploring but which has not been confirmed. If your system fails in the middle of winter, don't go without heat for a rebate that isn't open; replace what you need to and ask about retroactivity when the rules are published.
Does the National Heat Pump Rebate cover ductwork?
The announcement doesn't say. It describes a rebate toward an eligible heat pump and says nothing about ductwork, duct modifications or electrical work. Until the program rules are published, plan as if the ductwork a ducted heat pump needs, such as resizing the trunk, adding return air or sealing leaky joints, may not be covered, and get it assessed early so it doesn't hold up an approved installation.
Does the rebate cover ducted or ductless heat pumps?
The announcement says eligible electric cold-climate air-source heat pumps on the Eligible Products List. It doesn't say ducted or ductless, and the list for this program hasn't been published on the Government of Canada's site that we could find. Both ducted and ductless air-source heat pumps come in cold-climate models, so which one suits your house is still the first question, and the product list will settle which models qualify.
Do I need an energy audit for the National Heat Pump Rebate?
No. The Government of Canada says no energy audits are required before or after installation. That's different from Efficiency Nova Scotia's own rebates, where a Home Energy Assessment comes first. If you plan to combine the federal rebate with a provincial program, check that program's rules, because its steps still apply to it.
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