One rebate applies to windows. Most jobs don’t qualify for it.
That sentence costs us leads. We publish it anyway, because the alternative is quoting you a rebate you were never going to receive and having that conversation after you’ve signed.
Home Renovation Savings Program
$100 per rough opening
For ENERGY STAR certified windows, doors, skylights and sliding doors. Delivered by Enbridge Gas and Save on Energy, supported by the Government of Ontario.
A rough opening is the hole in the wall, not the number of window units in it. Three windows in one opening pays $100, not $300.
Three conditions decide whether you get it
A pre-retrofit home energy assessment must happen before any work starts. Work done before the assessment is not eligible, and there is no retroactive claim.
Windows and doors together count as one upgrade. The program requires two, so a windows-only job earns nothing — you need to pair it with insulation, air sealing or a heat pump water heater.
You need at least three window rough openings, or one door, skylight or sliding-door opening.
What that means in practice
If you are replacing windows and nothing else, this programme pays you nothing. It requires two qualified upgrades, and every window, door, skylight and sliding door you install counts together as one. The second upgrade has to be insulation, air sealing or a heat pump water heater.
We will tell you this at the estimate rather than after. If a competitor has quoted you a rebate on a windows-only job, ask them which second measure they are counting.
What the ceiling is
Enbridge natural-gas-heated homes
$5,000
Homes heated with electricity, oil, propane or wood
$10,000
These are whole-programme caps across every upgrade, not window caps. Anyone advertising “up to $5,000 back on your windows” is misreading the programme.
Programmes you may have been told about
Each of these appears on Ontario contractor websites today. None of them are available. If a quote you are comparing mentions one, that is worth knowing before you weigh the rest of it.
Canada Greener Homes Grant
Closed to new applicants.
Canada Greener Homes Loan
Funding fully committed; no new applications approved. The $40,000 interest-free loan is still advertised on several Ontario contractor websites. It is gone.
Enbridge Home Efficiency Rebate Plus (HER+)
Closed to new applicants February 2024. This is the program that paid up to $325 per window.
Ontario Seniors' Home Safety Tax Credit
Ended after the 2022 tax year.
Municipal loans are usually the cheapest money available.
These are loans rather than grants, and they generally beat contractor point-of-sale financing on rate. A “0%” offer from an installer is normally funded by a merchant fee priced into the quote — compare the cash price against the total financed cost, not one monthly payment against another.
Toronto Home Energy Loan Program (HELP)
Up to $125,000 or 10% of assessed value, repaid through your property tax bill and transferable to the next owner. Windows are explicitly eligible — and a project including windows is one of the few that unlocks the 20-year amortization.
Fixed rates valid to 30 September 2026: 3.34% over 5 years, 4.01% over 10, 4.46% over 15, 4.86% over 20, plus a 2% administrative charge.
RetrofitWR
Energy-efficient windows and doors are eligible at 2.5%. Low-interest financing is currently limited to GrandBridge Energy customers in Cambridge and North Dumfries — not region-wide.
Ontario Renovates
Up to $25,000 as a fully forgivable, interest-free loan, forgiven over ten years. Doors and windows are explicitly eligible. Income-tested, home value under $600,000, limited annual funding on a first-come basis.
What makes a window ENERGY STAR certified in Canada
Version 5.0, in effect since 1 January 2020. A window qualifies on a maximum U-factor of 1.22 W/m²·K (0.21 Btu/h·ft²·°F) or a minimum Energy Rating of 34.
A window certifies on either the U-factor OR the Energy Rating, not both. There is no longer an Ontario climate zone — Version 5.0 replaced the old zone map with a single national criterion. Any quote telling you that you need "Zone 2" windows is citing a spec retired in 2020.
You can confirm the exact model on any quote against NRCan’s certified product list before you sign. Rebate eligibility hinges on it.
Two things worth knowing
- Save on Energy and Enbridge never solicit for this program by phone or door-to-door. If someone calls or knocks offering to sign you up, it is not them.
- Since June 2024 it has been illegal in Ontario to register a Notice of Security Interest against your home for consumer goods. No window company or its finance partner may put anything on your title.
Leave the ENERGY STAR labels on the glass until after your post-installation assessment. Peeling them off on install day is the most common way a claim fails.
We prepare the paperwork. You submit it.
At the estimate we confirm whether your project can actually satisfy the two-measure requirement, and if it can, we assemble the documentation package. We don’t quote a rebate figure we haven’t verified for your specific address.
Programme terms are set by Enbridge Gas and Save on Energy and change without notice. Everything on this page was verified against official programme documentation in August 2026. We confirm current terms at the time of your quote.