Updated 2026
How much does a heat pump cost in Canada?
A quality cold-climate ducted heat pump installs for $14,000–$18,000 nationally, with Ontario quoting the lowest range at $5,000–$9,000. Ductless mini-splits start at $3,500–$6,000. Geothermal is the premium tier at $25,000–$45,000.
Federal and provincial rebates can offset $1,500 to $17,000 of these costs depending on where you live and what you\'re replacing. Use the table below to find pricing in your province, or read our deep-dive heat pump cost guide for 2026 covering 10-year total cost of ownership, hidden costs, and worked after-rebate examples.
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Cost by service type
National installed-cost ranges for each heat pump category:
Ducted Heat Pump
$14,000–$18,000
1–2 days
See details →
Ductless Mini-Split
$3,500–$6,000
1 day (single zone)
See details →
Multi-Zone Systems
$8,000–$15,000
2–3 days
See details →
Geothermal
$25,000–$45,000
5–10 days
See details →
Oil-to-Heat-Pump
$10,000–$15,000
2–3 days (including oil-tank decommissioning)
See details →
Cost by province (ducted air-source heat pump)
Provincial pricing varies because of contractor density, equipment wholesale prices, and labour costs. Ontario consistently quotes 30-40% below the national average.
| Province | Ducted ($) | Ductless ($) | Max rebate stack ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 5,000–9,000 | 4,000–9,000 | 12,000 |
| British Columbia | 14,000–18,000 | 4,500–10,000 | 11,000 |
| Alberta | 14,000–20,000 | 5,000–12,000 | 1,500 |
| Manitoba | 14,000–19,000 | 4,500–11,000 | 1,500 |
| Saskatchewan | 13,000–18,000 | 4,500–10,000 | 1,500 |
| Nova Scotia | 13,000–18,000 | 4,000–10,000 | 15,000 |
| New Brunswick | 13,000–18,000 | 4,000–10,000 | 16,000 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 13,000–18,000 | 4,000–10,000 | 14,000 |
| Prince Edward Island | 13,000–18,000 | 4,000–10,000 | 17,000 |
Hidden costs to watch for
Three line items routinely get missed in lower-tier quotes. Make sure your written quote itemizes them:
1. Electrical service upgrade
Heat pumps draw 30-60 amps. Homes with 60A or 100A panels often need an upgrade to 200A service before installation. Cost: $2,000-$4,000. Required in roughly 30% of Canadian retrofits, more in older housing stock.
2. Old equipment removal
Oil tank decommissioning is $800-$2,000 (covered under the Oil-to-Heat-Pump Affordability Program if eligible). Old furnace removal is $300-$500. Don't accept a quote that excludes these line items if you currently have oil or a gas furnace being replaced.
3. Ductwork modifications
Heat pumps need higher airflow than gas furnaces — about 400 CFM per ton of capacity. Existing ducts sized for a 60,000 BTU furnace may be undersized for a 4-ton heat pump. Expect $1,500-$3,500 in duct upgrades if your installer flags this during the assessment.
Heat pump cost vs. other heating systems (10-year total cost of ownership)
Installed cost is only half the picture. The other half is what the system costs to run over its expected service life. Below is the typical 10-year total cost (upfront + operating, before rebates) for a 2,000 sq ft Canadian home consuming roughly 100 GJ of heat per year:
| System | Install ($) | Annual fuel ($) | 10-yr total ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold-climate heat pump (CCHP) | 14,000–18,000 | 800–1,500 | 22,000–33,000 | Lowest 10-yr cost in electric-heated provinces. Rebates not yet applied. |
| High-efficiency natural-gas furnace | 5,500–9,000 | 1,200–2,000 | 17,500–29,000 | Cheapest install but no cooling. Carbon pricing rises through 2030. |
| Oil furnace | 5,500–9,000 | 3,000–4,500 | 35,500–54,000 | Highest operating cost in Canada. OHPAP grant makes conversion to heat pump nearly free for income-qualified households. |
| Electric baseboard / central electric furnace | 2,500–5,000 | 2,500–3,800 | 27,500–43,000 | Cheapest install. Highest operating cost in electric-heated provinces. Strongest case for heat pump conversion. |
| Propane furnace | 5,500–9,000 | 2,800–4,200 | 33,500–51,000 | Common in rural Ontario, NS, NB without natural-gas service. Conversion to heat pump is strongly positive. |
Operating-cost ranges assume 2026 prices: natural gas at $0.40-$0.55/m³, oil at $1.40-$1.70/L, electricity at $0.11-$0.20/kWh depending on province, propane at $1.20-$1.55/L. Heat pump COP assumed at 2.5-3.2 averaged across the heating season for Canadian climate. Sources: Natural Resources Canada heating-cost calculator, Statistics Canada energy prices.
What drives provincial price variation
Three factors explain why Ontario quotes are 30-40% lower than BC or the Prairies:
1. Contractor density
Ontario has roughly 4,200 licensed HVAC contractors versus 1,100 in BC and 600 in Alberta (per provincial trade-registry data). More competition compresses margins. Smaller provinces have fewer installers competing for the same jobs.
2. Existing ductwork penetration
Ontario homes are predominantly gas-heated with existing forced-air ductwork (about 73% per Statistics Canada household energy survey data). That ductwork lets installers fit a heat pump indoor coil into the existing furnace cabinet — minimal retrofit work. BC and the Maritimes have higher rates of ductless or hydronic systems, which require new line sets and indoor heads on multiple walls.
3. Equipment wholesale pricing
Heat pump equipment is shipped through HVAC distribution networks that price per-unit based on volume. Ontario distributors move 4-6× the volume of Prairie distributors, which lowers the wholesale price per matched system by typically $800-$1,500.
The combined effect is that the same 3-ton cold-climate heat pump that quotes $15,500 installed in Calgary frequently quotes $8,200 installed in Markham. Your installer's actual labour rate is similar — the variance is almost entirely equipment cost plus ductwork retrofit scope.
Methodology and sources
The pricing ranges on this page are aggregated from three sources: (1) Natural Resources Canada Greener Homes Loan program data on EnerGuide-audited installs; (2) provincial trade-association quote surveys (HRAI, CAGBC); (3) actual installer quote data from our partner network of 80+ licensed Canadian HVAC contractors. Ranges represent the 25th-75th percentile of recent installs in each province as of Q1 2026 — the bottom and top 25% of quotes are excluded as outliers. Operating-cost figures use NRCan's heating-cost calculator with provincial energy-price inputs from Statistics Canada.
Pricing changes seasonally. Spring (March-May) and fall (September-November) are the most competitive quote windows due to shoulder-season installer capacity. Pricing in December-February is typically 5-12% higher because winter installs require additional weather-protection labour. Pricing in June-August is typically 3-8% higher because installers are running peak schedules on cooling jobs.
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Common questions
How much does a heat pump cost in Canada?
Installed cost in Canadian dollars varies by category and province. National averages: ducted air-source $14,000–$18,000, ductless single-zone $3,500–$6,000, ductless multi-zone $8,000–$15,000, geothermal $25,000–$45,000. Ontario consistently runs 30-40% cheaper than the national average ($5,000–$9,000 for a typical ducted install in the GTA) due to higher contractor density and existing forced-air ductwork. After stacking federal Loan + OHPAP + provincial rebates, most households see effective out-of-pocket below $5,000 — and for income-qualified oil-conversion in the Maritimes, often below $2,000.
How much does it cost to install a heat pump?
The cost of a heat pump and installation together typically runs $4,000–$22,000 in Canada depending on the system. A ductless single-zone install (equipment plus labour) is $3,500–$6,000; a whole-home ducted cold-climate system is $14,000–$18,000 nationally, or $5,000–$9,000 in Ontario. Installation labour is usually 25-40% of the total — the rest is equipment. A quality quote itemizes equipment, labour, electrical, and removal separately so you can see exactly what the installation portion costs.
What is the average cost to install a heat pump?
The average cost to install a heat pump in Canada is about $14,000–$18,000 for a ducted air-source system and $4,000–$6,000 for a ductless single-zone system, before rebates. The average cost of a heat pump in Ontario is lower — around $5,000–$9,000 for a ducted install — because of higher contractor density and existing ductwork. These are 25th-75th-percentile averages from recent installs; your figure depends on home size and equipment selection.
Is a heat pump cheaper than oil?
Yes — by 60-70% on operating cost in every Canadian province. Oil heating runs $0.13-$0.16 per kWh-equivalent of delivered heat at 2026 prices. A cold-climate heat pump runs $0.07-$0.10 per kWh of heat delivered. For a typical 1,800 sq ft Maritime oil-heated home that spends $3,500-$4,500 per year on oil, post-conversion heating bills drop to $1,200-$1,500. Annual savings of $2,000-$3,000 before any rebate is factored in. With OHPAP + provincial top-ups covering most of the install, the conversion is net-positive cash flow from year one.
Are heat pumps worth it in Canada?
Highest return scenarios: replacing oil or propane in any province (heating cost drops 60-70%, large grant stack available). Replacing electric baseboards (heating cost drops 50-70%, provincial rebates apply). Replacing an end-of-life furnace plus an end-of-life AC simultaneously (one piece of equipment vs two, plus rebates). Most nuanced case: replacing a working high-efficiency natural gas furnace — operating-cost difference is small in 2026, the case strengthens over a 10-year window as carbon pricing escalates. The break-even point is usually whether you also need cooling (the AC value is what tilts the math).
Why is heat pump installation cheaper in Ontario than elsewhere?
Three reasons. First, Ontario has the highest density of HVAC contractors in Canada, so competition is fierce. Second, Ontario homes predominantly have existing forced-air ductwork from natural-gas furnaces — that simplifies the retrofit. Third, equipment wholesale prices are lower in Ontario due to sales volume. Expect $5,000–$9,000 for a ducted install in the GTA and Ottawa versus $14,000+ in BC and the Prairies. Smaller pricing differential for ductless multi-zone since those don't require existing ducts.
What hidden costs should I watch for?
Four line items routinely get missed in lower-tier quotes: (1) electrical panel upgrade — if your panel is 60-100A, you may need to upgrade to 200A, adding $2,000–$4,000. Many homeowners don't realize a heat pump can require this until quote time. (2) Old equipment removal — oil tank decommissioning $800–$2,000, old furnace removal $300–$500. (3) Ductwork modifications — if existing ducts can't handle the heat pump's airflow, $1,500–$3,500 in upgrades. (4) Pad or wall-bracket for the outdoor unit — proper snow-clearance elevation in cold provinces, $300–$800. A quality quote itemizes all four lines.
How long does heat pump installation take?
On-site install time is short: ducted retrofit 1-2 days, ductless single-zone 1 day, multi-zone ductless 2-3 days, oil-to-heat-pump conversion 2-3 days including tank decommissioning, geothermal 5-10 days. Total elapsed time from initial quote to operational system is longer because of rebate paperwork: 6-10 weeks if going through the federal Greener Homes Loan, 1-2 weeks if paying cash. Installation itself rarely delays anything — the bottleneck is loan approval and EnerGuide audit scheduling.
How long does a heat pump installation take to pay back?
Depends on what you're replacing. Oil-to-heat-pump in the Maritimes: 2-4 years after rebates. Electric-baseboard-to-heat-pump anywhere: 5-8 years. Natural-gas-to-heat-pump in Ontario: 8-12 years. Geothermal: 8-15 years. Because the Canada Greener Homes Loan is interest-free, financing the upfront cost does not extend the payback math — the monthly loan payment is usually less than the monthly heating-cost savings from day one, so the install is cash-flow-positive immediately even though the headline payback period is multi-year.