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Program eligibility

Photo of a hallway

The Home Renovation Rebate Program is intended for homes primarily heated by electricity (electric baseboards, electric furnaces) and have high bills from space heating. 

If you’re interested in applying for rebates through the program, you need to meet two sets of requirements:

You're responsible for ensuring you meet the program eligibility requirements before applying.

Income-qualified customers

If you’re an income-qualified customer, you should apply to the CleanBC Better Homes Energy Savings Program instead. This program provides enhanced rebates for home upgrades, covering up to 100% of energy-saving project costs. This program cannot be combined with our Home Renovation Rebate Program.

General eligibility requirements

Your home must be primarily heated by electricity

  • Your home must be heated by electricity, using electric baseboards, heat pumps, electric radiant ceiling or floors, or an electric forced-air furnace.
  • This heating system must have the capacity to heat at least 50% of your home for the entire heating season to 22ºC. 

Not sure how your home is heated? Use this guide.

If your home is primarily heated by natural gas, oil or propane, it’s not eligible. Check out other rebates available from our program partners.

You must have a BC Hydro account

  • Your home must have a current residential utility account with BC Hydro, or be served by a local municipal utility within BC Hydro service territory, such as New Westminster.
  • You must be the utility account holder to apply for the rebate. 

If you want to apply for a rebate but you’re not the account holder, the account holder must complete a utility account holder consent form [PDF, 982 KB].

Your home must be an eligible property type

The home must be 12 months or older and one of the following types of residential buildings:

  • Single-family detached home.
  • Single-family detached home with a secondary suite, both individually metered.
  • Mobile home that's permanently fixed on a foundation, structurally complete with plumbing, heating, electrical, water, and sewer services. Towing apparatus and axle has been removed.
  • Side-by-side or stacked duplex or side-by-side row home or townhouse, each unit with its own natural gas and/or electricity meter. Homes with utility accounts in the name of a strata corporation are not eligible.
  • Multiplex residential units, individually metered, in buildings three storeys or less with no significant common lighting or central mechanical systems, with its own individual entrance on an exterior wall and no shared hallways or elevator.

The following types of homes are not eligible due to limited energy-efficiency opportunities: 

  • Multi-unit residential buildings such as condominiums, high-rises, and apartment buildings. See instead: Multi-unit residential building offers.
  • Vacation homes or premises that are not year-round primary residences.
  • Garages, workshops, and outbuildings.
  • New homes built within the last 12 months.
  • A home defined as "substantially reconstructed" by the Homeowner Protection Act (see eligibility terms and conditions below for details).

For a full list of home eligibility requirements, see our rebate eligibility terms and conditions [PDF, 298 KB].

Your upgrades must be installed by a licenced contractor 

  • All upgrades must be installed by a licenced contractor with a GST number and a valid B.C. business licence for the trade applicable to the upgrade being installed (e.g. heat pumps must be installed by a licenced residential heating and cooling contractor). 
  • Heat pump and insulation installation must be completed by a Home Performance Contractor Network (HPCN) member.
  • Self-installations are not eligible.
  • All equipment and products installed as part of an upgrade must be new, in good working order, and not previously installed in another home or building.
  • You're responsible for safe removal, modification (where applicable), and disposal/recycling of old equipment in accordance with all applicable laws and ensuring the equipment is not resold or reused.
  • Rebates cannot exceed the cost on the invoice and the paid cost of the upgrade.

For a full list of installation requirements, see our additional terms and conditions [PDF, 96 KB].