Fix First HomeWhat home-upgrade rebates actually pay — and who you apply to.

Fix First Home › HomeWarming

HomeWarming open

Administered by Efficiency Nova Scotia, operated by EfficiencyOne.

Nova Scotia's no-charge programme for lower-income homeowners: a free energy assessment, then draft-proofing, insulation and other work at no cost. Its income lines are the tightest in the Atlantic provinces and they move every spring.

source · verified 23 September 2026

What it pays

No published cap — and that is the honest answer

Nothing is paid to the household and no value is published. Efficiency Nova Scotia covers the installation and arranges the contractors.

What you receive

  • A free home visit and audit by a registered energy advisor, covering insulation, air leakage and mechanical systems
  • Draft-proofing and insulation where the audit finds they will cut heating costs
  • The installation paid for and the contractors arranged
  • A single-zone heat pump, where the assessment recommends one. Since the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Program closed, HomeWarming does not install whole-home heat pump systems

Who is eligible

Adjusted income, calculated by subtracting line 435 from line 236 of your Notice of Assessment. Based on Statistics Canada's after-tax Low Income Cut-Off and reviewed every spring.

Household income ceilings
People in householdIncome ceiling
1 person$30,187
2 to 4 people$57,075
5 or more people$79,163
homeowners only
Yes
tenure
You live in the home year-round, it is your current primary residence, and you are not about to sell it.
cost
Nothing.

Where the application goes

One application, online or on paper.

Where the application goes
If this is youApply here
Every eligible householdApply online at efficiencyns.ca, or download and submit the PDF application. Call 1-877-999-6035 for help.

The thing most pages get wrong

HomeWarming's income lines are far below the Moderate Income Rebate's — $30,187 for one person against $37,260, and $57,075 for a household of four against $120,750. Nova Scotia runs two income-tested programmes with thresholds that differ by a factor of two, and which one you land in decides whether the work is free or merely subsidised.

And the second thing

These thresholds are indexed to Statistics Canada's Low Income Cut-Off and are reviewed and updated every spring, so they are among the figures in this dataset most likely to move without an announcement.

If you do not qualify

A household above the HomeWarming line but under the Moderate Income Rebate's applies to that instead, and gets a free assessment plus up to $10,000 in rebates across the two programmes.

This programme by upgrade

Every programme that pays toward the same upgrade, side by side.