Spring is the window most GTA homeowners pick for heat pump installs. The shoulder season gives HVAC crews scheduling room, and you want the system commissioned before next heating season. The rebate landscape shifted significantly since fall 2025, though, and most of what Google returns still describes programs that closed months ago.
The Greener Homes Grant Is Gone
The federal Canada Greener Homes Grant, which provided up to $5,600 for heat pump installations, accepted its last applications on January 20, 2026. If a contractor website still lists it as an active program, the site hasn’t been updated.
The Canada Greener Homes Loan (up to $40,000 at 0% interest) is still closing out existing applications but stopped accepting new ones in late 2025.
A lot of homeowners are comparing quotes against a subsidy that isn’t on the table anymore. Your actual starting program is HRSP.
Ontario Home Renovation Savings Program (HRSP)
The HRSP launched January 28, 2025 and runs through November 2026. Enbridge Gas and the IESO deliver it jointly, replacing the older Home Efficiency Rebate Plus program.
What you get back depends on your current heating source.
If you heat with natural gas as an Enbridge customer: $500 per ton of heat pump capacity, capped at $2,000. A standard 3-ton central heat pump gets you $1,500 back.
If you heat with electricity, oil, propane, or wood: $1,250 per ton for an air-source heat pump (max $7,500) or $2,000 per ton for ground-source (max $12,000). The higher rates push the move away from fossil fuels and electric-resistance baseboards.
Cold-climate heat pumps rated to operate at -15°C or lower without falling back to auxiliary heat qualify for the full rebate rates. For a Toronto winter, that’s not a bonus spec. It’s what you should be asking for regardless of any rebate.
Apply through enbridgegas.com or ieso.ca before work begins, not after. Getting the install done and then applying is the most common mistake that kills the rebate. Open the pre-approval before you sign the install contract.
Federal OHPA — Oil-Heated Homes Only
If you heat with oil, the federal Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program (OHPA) stacks on top of HRSP for an additional $5,000 to $15,000, depending on household income. An oil-heated GTA home switching to a cold-climate heat pump can pull up to $22,500 in combined incentives.
OHPA is income-tested: household after-tax income at or below the national median. Applications go through a registered service organization, not the contractor directly. If your HVAC contractor has never done an OHPA application before, that’s worth knowing before you book.
What a Real GTA Install Costs
Rebates are calculated on capacity, not on the invoice total, so the pre-incentive number is what matters for budgeting.
Ductless mini-split, single zone (room addition, garage, sunroom): $4,000–$8,000 installed.
Ductless multi-zone, three to five heads (homes without existing ductwork): $8,000–$18,000 installed.
Ducted cold-climate heat pump replacing a gas furnace or central AC — the most common setup in a GTA detached home: $10,000–$18,000 installed. Post-HRSP for a gas-heated home, that’s $8,000–$16,000 out of pocket.
Ground-source (geothermal): $25,000–$45,000 installed. The HRSP cap is $12,000 here, which helps, but the economics are still long-horizon. Most GTA lots don’t have space for horizontal loops, so expect vertical bore drilling — add $3,000–$5,000 for that.
Sizing for a Toronto Winter
Toronto’s heating design temperature is around -16°C, with pockets in Markham, north Brampton, and north Mississauga hitting -18°C on record nights. A heat pump that can’t hold meaningful output below -15°C will dump into electric-resistance backup at exactly the hours your bill is highest.
Cold-climate models you’ll actually see quoted in the GTA: Mitsubishi Zuba-Central, Carrier Greenspeed, Bosch IDS Premium, LG Multi-V, Daikin, and Fujitsu. Ask for the heating capacity at -15°C and at -25°C specifically. Some contractors quote the standard test-condition capacity at +8°C, which is about a third higher than what the unit delivers on a cold Toronto night — not a useful number for planning.
TSSA guidelines require a Manual J heat load calculation before sizing. A quote that skips this or just matches your existing furnace tonnage isn’t properly specified.
Permits
Your contractor pulls a mechanical permit from the city. An ESA (Electrical Safety Authority) inspection is required for the electrical connection separately. If the existing gas appliance is being disconnected, the contractor needs G1/G2 gas technician certification plus refrigeration credentials for the heat pump work.
The HRSP rebate also requires the contractor to be registered with the program. Not every HVAC company in the GTA is. Worth confirming before you commit.
The Practical Sequence
Confirm your current heating source. Check HRSP eligibility at enbridgegas.com or ieso.ca. Open the pre-approval before signing the install contract. Ask each quoting contractor for their HRSP registration number and the unit’s rated heating capacity at -15°C. If you have oil heat, check OHPA eligibility at the same time — stacking the two changes the math considerably.
If you’ve done this in the GTA recently, the most useful thing you can share here is what the real out-of-pocket looked like after rebates, which contractors actually understood the application process, and how long the pre-approval took. Contractor estimate sheets don’t tell you that. Top contributors to this thread earn $RENO — the quest engine breakdown covers how this topic fits into the reward structure.