How much you get
Pairs naturally with other upgrades
Oshawa grew up around the General Motors auto plant, and a lot of the city's older housing, especially close to the original plant site, was built for that manufacturing workforce decades ago, making it a common source of tanks well past their expected life.
What's actually different about Oshawa
Durham Region's growth over the past two decades has pushed a lot of newer development into Oshawa's north end, so the city has a wider spread of housing ages than a lot of nearby Durham municipalities.
Durham Region's community climate action plan, which Oshawa participates in, sets a target for cutting building emissions and flags older auto-era housing stock as a specific priority for retrofit programs.
Tankless and heat pump water heaters, compared
In Oshawa's older auto-industry-era housing, a tank has often already outlived its usual 6 to 8 year run, which is where a tankless unit's 15-plus year lifespan and roughly 97 percent efficiency (against about 67 percent for a standard tank) makes the clearest case for replacement. A heat pump water heater is the other high-efficiency route, with a coefficient of performance around 2.5 to 3.5, and it's the technology the $500 provincial rebate specifically supports.
How to claim it
In Oshawa, a lot of the older auto-industry-era homes near the original GM plant site are prime candidates for this swap, so mention that history to your assessor if it applies to your address.
- Book an initial home energy assessment ($600, refunded later)
- Get your custom report
- Install the heat pump water heater plus at least one other qualifying upgrade
- Book a follow-up assessment
- Rebate arrives by mail within 60 days
Water Heater installers in Oshawa
Real companies based in Oshawa, pulled from their current Google reviews. We're not paid to list anyone here.
Common questions
What rebates cover water heaters in Oshawa?
Ontario's program rebates heat pump water heaters under the same Home Renovation Savings framework as heat pumps. Confirm the current amount with your installer, since these figures change more often than the headline heat pump numbers.
Does it matter which utility serves my Oshawa home?
Not for the rebate. Oshawa is served by Oshawa Power, not Elexicon Energy, but the $500 heat pump water heater rebate is provincial and works the same with either utility.
Are tankless water heaters rebated in Oshawa?
Standard tankless (on-demand) gas water heaters generally aren't rebated. The $500 provincial program is built around heat pump water heaters specifically, though tankless is still worth considering for the efficiency and lifespan gains on its own.
Your utility: Oshawa Power
Oshawa Power (Oshawa PUC Networks), a city-owned utility, bills electricity across Oshawa. The $500 water heater rebate is a provincial program independent of Oshawa Power, but the utility is your contact for capacity questions and worth checking for any conservation incentive of its own.
Next steps
Given how much of Oshawa's older housing sits close to the original General Motors plant footprint, it's worth walking your assessor through the age of your neighbourhood specifically, not just the age of your own house, since entire blocks near the plant were often built and equipped in the same handful of years.
View all Oshawa rebate programs → or check the official Home Renovation Savings Program site → for the current source of truth.