Heat pump rebate pays up to $10,000, approved in 24 hours
Good Morning. A federal rebate of up to $10,000 now stands behind every tired furnace in your clients' listings, CMHC models cheaper wood and more townhouses in Toronto and Ottawa, and Kingston's sales are thin while its listings are not. Brokerages also have until 30 October to file with RECO. Here is the week.
Top Story
Federal Heat Pump Rebate Pays Up To $10,000, Approved In 24 Hours
On 8 October, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada said the federal government will spend $2 billion to retrofit one million homes across the country. A heat pump rebate opens to 820,000 households. The government frames the program as a way to lower energy bills and cut emissions. The department says seven million households nationally still heat with oil, propane, or diesel, or run on older electric baseboard systems and aging furnaces instead of newer, more efficient equipment.
Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement with Gregor Robertson, the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Canada Infrastructure Bank will help deliver the money. The event also highlighted a Nova Scotia partnership: the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia and EfficiencyOne are named delivery partners for the retrofit work there. Brian Tabor chairs the Trust, Charity Carr sits on its advisory board, and Martha Casey serves as interim CEO of EfficiencyOne.
For realtors and mortgage brokers, this retrofit rebate adds a financing detail worth raising with clients eyeing older housing stock.
A federal retrofit rebate could lower energy bills for owners of older, fossil-fuel-heated homes.
Rest of the News
Hamilton Grant Turns Contaminated Site Into 512 Care Beds
The City of Hamilton says Hamilton City Council approved a $12 million ERASE Redevelopment Grant on 7 October for Schlegel Villages Inc. to remediate the former psychiatric hospital site at 290 Fennell Avenue West into 512 long-term care beds. The project will generate $1.98 million in annual taxes. Mayor Andrea Horwath said, "Hamiltonians deserve to see underused and contaminated properties transformed to serve our community."
Public funding is converting idle land into new housing supply outside the resale market.
Source: City of Hamilton · Oct 8, 2026
$3 Million Expands Dementia Care To 13 Long-Term Care Homes
The Ontario Government is putting $3 million into expanding the IDCP, adding 13 long-term care homes to the program and connecting 1,300 more residents living with dementia to supports. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care, said, "Our government is investing in innovative programs to support long-term care residents living with dementia." The funding reaches homes already operating. That spending lands on existing stock, echoing a shift toward operating costs over transactions.
Families weighing long-term care options now have more dementia-specific support to consider.
Source: Ontario Government · Oct 8, 2026
Brokerages Must File Annual Report By 30 October
RECO opened its portal for the Annual Financial Filing on 1 October, giving every brokerage until 30 October to submit the mandatory report, a process overseen by Glen Thomas, the regulator's Head of Compliance and Registrar. The council also set 1 August 2026 as the date eligibility opens for subsequent filings. Samantha Pinto, RECO's Chief Regulatory Modernization Officer, is named in the release. Brokerages have about four weeks to file.
Missing the filing window risks compliance trouble, so brokerages should calendar the 30 October cutoff now.
Source: Real Estate Council of Ontario · Oct 1, 2026
CMHC Models Up To 17% Lower Costs For Ground-Oriented Builds
CMHC modelling suggests that keeping more Canadian lumber and wood products at home, rather than shipping them south, could cut construction costs for ground-oriented housing by 17%. That's real money for builders. The same shift could lift annual housing starts nationally by 3.5%, adding roughly 4,000 homes a year. It's a supply case built on tariff exposure, while Ontario's housing attention turns toward existing stock instead of new sales.
If tariffs push builders toward Canadian-made lumber, the new-construction homes your clients tour next year could cost less to put up — and possibly to buy.
Source: CMHC
Elevated new listings, sales still below the long-run…
The Kingston and Area Real Estate Association's 30 September release put home sales at 222 units in September 2026, down 4.7% from a year earlier. That left the city 17.2% below its 10-year average for the month, even as new listings pushed close to a record. Luca Andolfatto, the board's president, said sellers were "out in force after the summer ended," while buyers held back. That left shoppers with more choice than they've had in years, even with sales still below trend. The GTA's sales and listings fell together this fall. Kingston split the two apart: listings stayed strong while sales slipped below trend. That's the same reallocation showing up away from Toronto, where listings now sit ahead of the sales they're meant to attract.
Buyers outside Toronto now have more room to negotiate, but sellers are competing against a near-record stack of listings.
Source: Kingston and Area Real Estate Association · Sep 30, 2026
Quick Hits
- SMALL-SCALE INFILL NOW 1 IN 10 HOUSING STARTS — CMHC reports that small-scale infill, from buildings with two to eight units to accessory dwellings, now accounts for one in 10 housing starts in Canada.
- TARION REGISTRATION NOW MANDATORY FOR NEW FREEHOLD BUYS — Tarion says new freehold buyers must register with it within 45 days of signing an agreement of purchase and sale, a requirement that took effect on 1 April 2026.
- WINDSOR-ESSEX SALES DOWN 10.1% YEAR OVER YEAR — The Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS reported 417 sales in September, down 10.1% from a year earlier and 23.1% below the 10-year average for the month.Source: Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS · Sep 30, 2026
- NIAGARA SALES OFF 1.3%, BUT BEAT FIVE-YEAR AVERAGE — The Niagara Association of REALTORS counted 525 sales in September, down 1.3% from a year earlier but 5.4% above the five-year average.Source: Niagara Association of REALTORS · Sep 30, 2026
Tip of the Week
Prepare for tight-inventory conversations
With GTA new listings down 14.4% YoY and sales off 9%, fewer choices will pressure clients on timing and price.
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board's September data shows GTA new listings down 14.4% year-over-year while sales fell only 9%. That gap means fewer homes for buyers to compete for, even as some sit on the sidelines. When you sit with clients—buyer or seller—establish their flexibility on timeline, location, or features upfront. Buyers won't find what they want quickly. Sellers who list now sidestep a shrinking pool of competitors. Scarcity outlasts hesitation.
Source: Toronto Regional Real Estate Board · Oct 6, 2026
Ontario is investing $3 million to expand a dementia care program to 13 additional long-term care homes. Approximately how much is being allocated per home?
Reveal answer
This week's three headline numbers carry three different statuses. The rebate is announced, the lumber saving is modelled, and the 30 October filing is mandatory. Your clients will hear all three as settled.
See you next Tuesday.
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