Market Snapshot: Canada’s heat pump market has grown nearly sixfold since 2000

Release date: 2026-08-12

Heat pump adoption and share in the overall heating technology mix^Footnote 1 has increased substantially over the past two decades^Footnote 2. The numbers rose from a total of 238,000 units in 2000 to 1,335,000 units in 2023, a near sixfold increase^Footnote 3. Overall, heat pumps accounted for 7.9% of residential heating systems in 2023, which is up from 1.9% in 2000^Footnote 4.

Quebec has added the most heat pumps, making up 36% of heat pump additions across Canada from 2000 to 2023, followed by British Columbia at 16%, Ontario at 15% and New Brunswick at 13%. Single detached homes make up the majority of heat pump installations, accounting for 83%.

Figure 1: Total Heat Pump Stock by Province (2000-2023 Territories Excluded)

What is a heat pump?

Heat pumps are used for both space heating and cooling whereas other technologies like a furnace or an air conditioner only have one of these functions. During the summer months, a heat pump cools indoor spaces by removing the heat from inside the building, transferring it outside. In winter, heat pumps draw available heat energy from the outdoor air and transfer it indoors, creating a warm indoor environment^Footnote 5.

The heat transferring property allows heat pumps to operate at much higher efficiencies relative to traditional heating equipment^Footnote 6. This makes heat pumps two times more efficient than Canada’s most common sources of residential indoor heating, which are high efficiency natural gas furnaces or electric baseboard heating systems^{Footnote 7Footnote 8}.

For more about how heat pumps work see: Electric heat pumps – Natural Resources Canada and, Market Snapshot: Growing heat pump adoption – how does the technology work?

Figure 2 illustrates the growth of heat pumps in the context of the total evolution of residential heating system stock in Canada. From 2000 to 2023, total residential heating systems grew by 4.35 million. The growth of heat pumps has coincided with strong growth in electric and high-efficiency natural gas systems, and declining heating oil and low- and medium-efficiency natural gas systems.

Figure 2: Total Heating System Stock (2000-2023)

Heat Pump Share Growth Across Atlantic Canada

The Atlantic Canada region has higher heat pump adoption rates compared to rest of Canada. In 2023, heat pumps accounted for 40% off all home heating systems in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island followed at 23%, with Nova Scotia at 21.5%, and Newfoundland and Labrador at 16%. As federal and provincial support for energy-efficient technologies grew, the number of homes using heating oil decreased. Over the past two decades, New Brunswick saw the number of homes using heating oil decrease by 34,705 (a 59% drop), while the number of heat pumps increased by 142,414 units. Newfoundland and Labrador saw a reduction of 32,843 homes using heating oil (a 55% drop), with an increase of 38,260 heat pumps. Nova Scotia saw a reduction of 78,261 homes using heating oil (a 39% drop) and an increase of 90,379 heat pumps. Prince Edward Island saw a reduction of 10,135 homes using heating oil (a 28% drop) and an increase of 16,073 heat pumps.

Atlantic Canada has had a historically higher reliance on heating oil compared to rest of Canada^Footnote 9. As of 2023, 19% of households in Atlantic Canada use heating oil, compared with 2% of households in the rest of Canada.

The reliance on heating oil exposes households to the volatility in international oil prices. In 2023, Natural Resources Canada estimated cost savings of $1,500 to $4,500 a year on energy bills when switching from heating oil-based systems to heat pumps.^Footnote 10

Figure 3: Share of heat pumps in total heating system stock by province (2000-2023)

Federal and Provincial Policy Support

The Canada Greener Homes Initiative (CGHI), launched in 2021, includes grant and loan programs that have successfully promoted and supported the installation of close to 300,000 heat pumps to date. The recently concluded Canada Greener Homes Grant (CGHG) program provided grants up to $5,000 for eligible retrofits, while the Canada Greener Homes Loan provided interest-free loans up to $40,000 for qualifying retrofits, with heat pumps being the top retrofit across both programs. The ongoing Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) program provides targeted support for low- to median-income Canadian households that rely on heating oil to transition to heat pumps with grants of up to $10,000, increasing to $15,000 in qualifying provinces. Further, the new Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program (CGHAP), the latest program under the CGHI, provides funding to partners in provinces and territories to deliver region-specific home energy retrofits, including heat pumps, at no cost for low- to median-income Canadians.

Date modified:

2026-08-12