Fix First Home › Atlantic Canada
The oil-conversion door shut here in one week.
Atlantic Canada was the one region where switching off oil came with federal money you could get before paying the contractor. Between 30 June and 2 July 2026, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia both stopped taking applications — for two different reasons, three days apart. Newfoundland and Labrador is the last province still open, and it pays the largest amount of the three.
Updated . Nova Scotia has its own page, with Halifax’s financing and what a heat pump earns at each income.
The short version
One door closed on a deadline. One closed on an empty till.
New Brunswick stopped registering people for Oil to Heat Pump Affordability on 30 June 2026, because Ottawa closed registration. Nova Scotia stopped on 2 July 2026, because the funding it had been given was fully allocated. The distinction matters: a programme that ran out of money can reopen if more arrives, and Efficiency Nova Scotia keeps a standby list on exactly that basis. A programme whose registration window closed does not.
What is left in all three provinces is provincial and utility money, paid after the work rather than before it. That is a real change for an oil-heated household without the cash to front a heat pump — and it is the single fact this page exists to state plainly.
Where each province stands
The oil-conversion route first, because it is the one that moved.
Newfoundland & Labrador
up to $22,000
Oil to Electric is still open, with no closure date set. It pays on two scales — income-qualified and general — and the money goes straight to the installer.
What it pays, and to whom →
New Brunswick
closed 30 June 2026
Registration for the $15,000 advance is over. Two deadlines still bind everyone already in the queue, and missing the second one means paying the money back.
The deadlines that still bind →
Nova Scotia
closed 2 July 2026
The funding was fully allocated. A standby list exists and Efficiency Nova Scotia says plainly that being on it guarantees nothing.
What the standby list is worth →
Three provinces, three different shapes
None of these provinces runs the same structure. The differences are not cosmetic — they decide who can claim what, and in two cases they decide it on the fuel in your basement.
New Brunswick pays by the square foot
NB Power runs one programme for everyone — Total Home Energy Savings — and one for households under $70,000, Enhanced Energy Savings, where the work is free. Total Home charges $99 plus HST for an evaluation that covers both the before and after visits, and pays insulation per square foot on a sliding scale from $0.40 to $3.00 depending on the R-value you add. Two houses buying the same insulation are paid different amounts.
Nova Scotia stacks two programmes on purpose
Every Nova Scotian homeowner can claim up to $5,000 through the Home Energy Assessment. A moderate-income household can claim up to $5,000 more through the Moderate Income Rebate — for the same upgrades — bringing a centrally ducted heat pump to $2,000 a ton across the two. Efficiency Nova Scotia says so measure by measure in its own rebate guide. Below both sits HomeWarming, where the work is free and the income lines are roughly half the Moderate Income Rebate’s.
Apply in the right order or lose the second $5,000
Efficiency Nova Scotia says to apply for the Moderate Income Rebate before booking an assessment and to wait for approval before starting work. A qualifying household that books the assessment first pays the $199 fee it should not have paid, and can lose the second layer of rebates entirely.
Newfoundland gates everything on electric heat
takeCHARGE’s ordinary rebates — insulation, air sealing, duct insulation — are only for homes whose primary heat is electric. An oil-heated home in Newfoundland gets nothing from them. Its route is Oil to Electric, and only after it has switched.
Two things an Atlantic homeowner is told that are not true today
“Nova Scotia has a solar rebate.”
It does not, and has not since 17 April 2025. SolarHomes is closed to homeowners and even its approved projects had to finish by 31 March 2026 — yet the programme page is still headed “Start generating your own electricity”. The surviving stream is for registered non-profits and charities only.
“New Brunswick pays for solar panels.”
Only for people who were already in the queue. The $200 per kW is real, but you had to enrol in Total Home by 27 May 2026, and the work and final evaluation must be finished by 31 January 2027. The rate is still printed on the live rebate table with no closure marked beside it.
Repair money, and a heat pump you can rent
Each province also has a repair programme for lower-income homeowners. They pay for what is broken or unsafe, not for efficiency, and the money is a loan that is forgiven rather than a rebate.
| Province | Programme | Income test | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland & Labrador | Home Repair Program, open since 1 October 2026, energy efficiency included | under $42,500 ($65,000 in Labrador) | $10,000 ($13,000) |
| New Brunswick | Homeowner Repair Program, for major repairs; $15,000 for accessibility, $7,000 for seniors’ adaptations | core housing need; no dollar line published | $18,000 |
| Nova Scotia | Housing Repair and Accessibility Program, a $10,000 grant plus an $8,000 forgivable loan | $59,000 to $84,500, by region and bedrooms needed | $18,000 |
Prince Edward Island’s repair programmes are not covered yet.
Newfoundland’s energy programme is now part of its repair programme
The Home Energy Savings Program stopped taking applications on 15 June 2026. Since 1 October 2026 the same work has been paid through the Home Repair Program, whose forgivable loan doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 ($13,000 in Labrador). Three official pages still describe the old programme, one of them with an income line of $32,500 that the housing corporation no longer uses.
source · verified 27 September 2026
A heat pump you rent instead of buy
Saint John Energy, the city-owned utility, rents ductless heat pumps across most of New Brunswick from $55.36 a month, with installation, service and replacement included. You never own it: there is no buyout and the minimum term is three years. If you would rather own one, the same utility finances a heat pump you buy, up to $10,000 over seven years.
source · verified 27 September 2026
NB Power also takes money off at the till with no application: $45 on a smart thermostat for electric heat and $150 on a heat pump clothes dryer until 31 March 2027, and smaller seasonal discounts, such as $5 on weatherstripping, until 22 November 2026. Efficiency Nova Scotia’s at-the-till rebates, including $800 on a heat pump water heater, are on the Nova Scotia page.
source · verified 27 September 2026
Prince Edward Island
The smallest province here runs the most unusual set of programmes: two that install the work for free rather than paying you back for it, one that pays for firewood, and a loan that exists because every rebate makes you pay first.
Two gates, not one
Free Home Insulation tests what the house is worth as well as what the household earns. The only other programme here that does is B.C.’s Energy Savings Program, and its line is four times higher. Income under $55,000 and a tax assessed value of $300,000 or less — and a home above that line is refused however little its owner earns. Nothing is paid to you, because nothing needs to be: the province sends the contractor and buys the materials.
The low-income rate is a different price list
Under Home Insulation Rebates, one line at $35,000 in net family income roughly doubles everything: $5.50 against $3.50 in the attic, $80 against $50 on a re-finished wall, $34 against $21 below grade, $245 against $125 per window. It is not a top-up on the regular rate — it replaces it. And PEI prices insulation in two dimensions at once, per 100 square feet and per point of R-value added, so neither number alone tells you what the work pays.
A renter can get this one
Winter Warming tests who pays the heating bill, not whose name is on the deed. Household income of $50,000 or less, and the property can be a year-round rental. Most Atlantic programmes are for homeowners only. The catch is the clock: once every five years per property, so a home that had the visit four years ago is still waiting, whoever lives there now.
PEI pays for the fuel itself
Wood pellets and firewood carry a flat 10% rebate with no income limit at all, usually taken off at the till by the retailer. Every other entry in this dataset pays for equipment; this one pays for what you burn in it. Biomass stoves, boilers and furnaces are paid separately, up to $3,500 for a boiler at the low-income rate — but you have one year from installation to claim, and PEI means it.
The loan that solves the timing problem
Every rebate on this page asks you to pay for the work and wait. PEI’s Energy Efficiency Loan Program lends up to $10,000 at 5% over seven years to cover it, at any income — and any rebate you then earn is applied straight to the loan. The money never passes through your hands in either direction: it goes to the contractor, and the rebate goes to Finance PEI.
The heat pump money is gone, but one window is still open
PEI heat pump rebates ended on 15 April 2026, and free heat pumps and Oil to Heat Pump Affordability are closed to new applicants. But a rebate here runs for one year from the date of purchase, not to a programme end date — so equipment bought between 15 April 2025 and 15 April 2026 can still be claimed, and the last of those claims expire on 15 April 2027.
Questions people actually ask
Can I still get federal money to switch off oil in Atlantic Canada?
In Newfoundland and Labrador, yes — the Oil to Electric Incentive Program is still taking applications and is delivered in partnership with the federal and provincial governments. In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, no. Both closed Oil to Heat Pump Affordability in the first days of July 2026, New Brunswick on 30 June because federal registration closed and Nova Scotia on 2 July because its funding was fully allocated.
How much does Newfoundland pay to get off oil?
Up to $22,000 for an income-qualified household installing a central heat pump, or $9,000 in the general stream. Multiple mini-splits or a multi-split pay up to $18,000 income-qualified and $6,500 general; an electric furnace or boiler pays up to $10,000 and $5,000. Income-qualified means adjusted net income at or under $37,375 for one person, rising to $131,100 for four.
Can I claim two Nova Scotia rebates for the same upgrade?
Yes, and Efficiency Nova Scotia designed it that way. The Home Energy Assessment pays up to $5,000 to any homeowner, and a moderate-income household adds up to $5,000 more through the Moderate Income Rebate for the same work — up to $10,000 in total. Apply for the Moderate Income Rebate first and wait for approval before booking the assessment or starting work.
Why are Nova Scotia's two income-tested programmes so far apart?
Because they measure different things. HomeWarming is pegged to Statistics Canada's after-tax Low Income Cut-Off and pays for the work outright — $30,187 for one person, $79,163 for a household of five or more. The Moderate Income Rebate reaches much further up, to $37,260 for one person and $126,500 for five or more, and pays rebates rather than doing the work.
What does it cost to get started?
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island both charge $99 plus HST for an energy evaluation, and in both cases that covers the initial and the final visit. Nova Scotia charges $199 for the initial assessment and waives it for households that qualify for the Moderate Income Rebate. Newfoundland's takeCHARGE rebates need no assessment except for air sealing, which needs two. PEI's free insulation and Winter Warming programmes cost nothing at all — there is no assessment fee because there is no rebate to claim.
I heat with oil in Newfoundland. Can I get an insulation rebate?
Not from takeCHARGE. Its insulation and air sealing rebates require the primary heat source to be electric, or the home to use at least 15,000 kWh a year. Only its ventilator rebate is open to any heat source. The route for an oil-heated home is the Oil to Electric programme, and the insulation rebates open up only once it has switched.
Is there anything on this site for Prince Edward Island?
Yes, since 5 September 2026 — seven programmes. PEI is worth reading even if you live elsewhere: it is the only province here that pays a rebate on firewood and wood pellets, one of only two that test what the house is worth as well as what the household earns, and one of the very few whose programmes a renter can qualify for.
Can I still get a free heat pump in PEI?
No. Applications for free heat pumps and for Oil to Heat Pump Affordability are closed, and PEI's own heat pump rebates ended on 15 April 2026. Households already accepted are still in the queue and contractors are working through them. One window survives: a PEI rebate runs for a year from the date of purchase, so equipment bought between 15 April 2025 and 15 April 2026 can still be claimed until 15 April 2027.
Which Atlantic province still has the federal oil-to-heat-pump route open?
None of them. All four co-delivery provinces are now closed to new applicants — New Brunswick on 30 June 2026 when Ottawa closed registration, Nova Scotia on 2 July 2026 when the funding was exhausted, and Prince Edward Island with no date published. Newfoundland's provincial Oil to Electric programme is a different thing and is still open, with no closure date set.
What happened to Newfoundland's Home Energy Savings Program?
It stopped taking applications on 15 June 2026. Since 1 October 2026 the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation pays the same kind of work through its Home Repair Program, which now counts energy efficiency as an eligible repair: a forgivable loan of up to $10,000, or $13,000 in Labrador, for household incomes under $42,500, or $65,000 in Labrador.
Can I rent a heat pump in New Brunswick?
Yes. Saint John Energy rents ductless heat pumps to most New Brunswickers, not only its own customers, from $55.36 a month with installation and service included. You never own it: there is no buyout and the minimum term is three years. Saint John Energy also finances a heat pump you buy yourself, up to $10,000 over seven years.