Ottawa will pay you up to $10,000 to stop heating your home with oil. That’s not a tax credit you’d see two springs from now. It’s an upfront payment, sent before the installers even show up, and thousands of oil-heated homes across Greater Moncton qualify without their owners knowing it.
If you’ve been hunting for an oil to heat pump grant New Brunswick homeowners can actually use, this guide covers the whole picture. The big federal program, the NB Power rebates that stack on top, the interest-free loan that fills the gap, and the one cost nobody budgets for: dealing with the old oil tank once the heat pump is humming.
We’re Hub City Tank Co. We replace and remove oil tanks around Moncton for a living, so we see both sides of this decision every single week. Here’s the straight goods.
Why All This Grant Money Exists
Heating oil is one of the most expensive ways to keep a house warm in New Brunswick. A typical home around Moncton burns somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 litres a year, and at recent prices that’s $2,800 to $3,800 a winter. Oil prices also swing hard, so budgeting is a guessing game.
Governments want people off oil for climate reasons. Homeowners want off oil for wallet reasons. Insurance companies are pushing from a third direction, sending those letters demanding proof your tank is under 15 or 20 years old. Put all three together and you get the richest pile of conversion money this province has ever seen.
One honest note before we get into the programs. Grant paperwork takes weeks, sometimes months, and rusty tanks don’t wait politely. If your tank is leaning, weeping at a seam, or pushing 25 years old, get it looked at now, grants or no grants. Call us at (506) 806-0900 and we’ll give you a free written estimate, no pressure attached.
The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability Grant: The Big Federal One
The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program, usually shortened to OHPA, is the headline act. It’s a federal program run through Natural Resources Canada and it’s built for exactly one situation: a home that currently heats with oil switching to an electric cold-climate heat pump.
Here’s what makes OHPA different from every rebate you’ve heard of before:
- The money comes upfront. Once you’re approved, the payment is issued before the installation, so you’re not floating $15,000 on a line of credit while you wait.
- It’s worth up to $10,000. That’s enough to fully cover a modest mini-split setup in many homes, and it takes a serious bite out of a whole-home system.
- It’s income-tested. Your household income needs to be at or below the median for your household size. That threshold is higher than most people assume, so don’t rule yourself out before checking.
To qualify, the home has to be your primary residence, you have to own it, and oil has to be your main heat source. You’ll need proof, usually oil delivery receipts from the past 12 months, so start a folder now. The heat pump itself must be an eligible cold-climate model installed by a contractor, not a weekend DIY special.
Denise in Riverview is a good example of how this plays out. Her insurance company flagged her 1998 tank last fall, and rather than replace it she priced out a switch. A ducted cold-climate heat pump for her bungalow came in at $16,900. OHPA approved her for the full $10,000 upfront, an interest-free federal loan covered the balance, and we hauled her old tank out for $700 once the new system was commissioned. Her only real cost that month was patience with the paperwork.
Program amounts and rules do get adjusted, so confirm the current numbers on the government page before you plan around them.
New Brunswick Heat Pump Rebates That Stack on Top
OHPA is federal, but New Brunswick has its own layer of help, mostly delivered through NB Power’s energy savings programs. Depending on your income and how deep a retrofit you want, there are three doors to knock on.
The Enhanced Energy Savings Program. This one is for income-qualified households, and it’s the closest thing to free money in the province. If your household income is under the program threshold, NB Power can cover upgrades like insulation, air sealing, and in many cases a mini-split heat pump at little or no cost to you. They arrange the contractors, too.
The Total Home Energy Savings Program. This is the audit route. An energy advisor evaluates your home, you complete upgrades, and rebates flow based on what you did. Heat pumps, insulation, and air sealing all earn money back. It takes longer, but the rebates stack with federal help, and the audit often finds cheap fixes that cut your heating load before you even size the heat pump.
The Canada Greener Homes Loan. The old federal grant closed to new applicants, but the loan side is alive and well. It’s interest-free, up to $40,000, paid back over 10 years. For a family that qualifies for OHPA but still faces a $6,000 gap on a bigger system, this is usually how the gap gets closed without touching a credit card.
The key word in all of this is stack. These programs are designed to combine. A properly sequenced application can take a $17,000 conversion down to a few thousand out of pocket, financed interest-free.
What Getting Off Oil Really Costs After the Grants
Let’s put real numbers side by side. Prices vary by home and installer, but these ranges reflect what homeowners around Greater Moncton are actually paying.
| Conversion path | Typical installed cost | Realistic grant help | What you might pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| One or two mini-split heads | $5,500 to $12,000 | Up to $10,000 OHPA if income-qualified | $0 to $3,000 |
| Whole-home ducted cold-climate system | $15,000 to $20,000 | $10,000 OHPA plus NB Power rebates | $4,000 to $9,000, loan-eligible |
| Heat pump plus keeping oil as backup | $6,000 to $14,000 | Rebate route only in most cases | $4,000 to $12,000 |
| Old oil tank removal | $500 to $1,500 | Eligible cost under OHPA | $0 to $1,500 |
Notice that last row. OHPA counts the safe removal of your oil tank as an eligible cost, so if you qualify, fold the removal into your application from day one. The NB Power rebate programs don’t pay for tank removal, so on that route it’s a real cost to budget for.
The savings side is where the story gets good. Marc and Chantal in Shediac made the jump two winters after doing the math on their oil bills, which averaged $3,600 a year. Their three-head mini-split system cost $11,400 installed. OHPA covered $10,000 of it, they paid $1,400 plus $650 for us to remove the tank, and their power bill went up about $1,300 a year. That’s roughly $2,300 a year staying in their pockets, every year, and the salt air off the Northumberland Strait can’t rust a heat pump’s fuel supply.
If you want the deeper dive on operating costs, we’ve broken it all down in our oil heat versus heat pump cost comparison.
The Step Everyone Forgets: Your Old Oil Tank
Here’s the part of the conversion that lands in our lap. The heat pump crew installs your new system, shakes your hand, and leaves. The oil tank is still sitting in your basement or beside your house, often with 300 litres of oil in it.
That leftover tank is not a harmless souvenir. A tank that’s no longer being used and inspected is exactly the kind that quietly rusts from the inside out, and a leak from a “retired” tank is treated the same as any other spill. Cleanup can run into six figures, and insurers get very interested in whether the tank was properly decommissioned. A disused tank can also complicate selling your house later, because buyers and their lawyers ask questions.
Proper removal means pumping out and reclaiming the leftover oil, disconnecting and capping the lines, hauling the tank away, and disposing of it at a licensed facility. For a standard basement or outdoor tank in the Moncton area, professional oil tank removal typically runs $500 to $1,500, and we credit you for recoverable oil when there’s enough to reclaim. Buried tanks are a different animal with different costs, which we cover in our full oil tank removal cost guide.
Whatever you do, don’t cut up a tank yourself or tip it over to drain it on the lawn. One sheared fitting can turn a $700 job into an environmental claim. When your conversion date is booked, request a free written removal estimate and we’ll schedule the pickup for the week after your heat pump is commissioned.
How to Apply Without Tripping Up
The single biggest mistake we see is homeowners signing an install contract before their grant approval comes through. Most programs will not pay for work that started early. Follow this order and you’ll keep every dollar you’re entitled to.
- Check your income eligibility first. Look up the current OHPA threshold for your household size. If you’re under it, that’s your anchor program. If you’re over it, focus on NB Power rebates and the interest-free loan.
- Gather your oil paper trail. Twelve months of delivery receipts or account statements from your fuel supplier prove you heat with oil.
- Apply and wait for approval. Do not buy equipment, sign contracts, or book installers until the approval is in writing.
- Get two or three quotes. Make sure every quote is for an eligible cold-climate model and the installer is registered with the program.
- Book the energy audit if you’re going the NB Power rebate route. The pre-audit has to happen before upgrades begin.
- Install, commission, keep everything. Invoices, model numbers, photos. Then deal with the tank.
And if the numbers just don’t work for you this year, that’s a legitimate outcome too. Roland in Sackville ran the math last winter, landed a bit over the income threshold, and decided a panel upgrade plus a heat pump wasn’t in the cards yet. He replaced his 26-year-old tank with a new double-bottom model for $3,300 installed, kept his insurer happy, and plans to revisit the grants in a few years. A safe, insurable oil tank replacement buys you a decade or more to convert on your own schedule. If you’re weighing that same fork in the road, our guide to converting from oil to a heat pump in Moncton walks through the local details.
Either way, the wrong move is doing nothing while an old tank keeps aging over your basement floor. Call (506) 806-0900 or request a free written estimate and we’ll help you figure out which path fits, with real numbers for your house.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to remove my oil tank to get the grant?
Under OHPA, safely removing your oil tank is actually listed as an eligible cost, so the grant can help pay for it as part of the conversion. Beyond the money, leaving a disused oil tank in place is a liability your insurer and any future buyer will care about, and an unmonitored tank is the most likely one to leak. Budget $500 to $1,500 for proper removal and treat it as part of the project, not an optional extra.
Can I keep my oil furnace as a backup and still get help?
If oil remains part of your heating, you generally won’t qualify for OHPA, since that program is built around fully switching off oil as your main heat source. You may still qualify for NB Power rebates on the heat pump through the audit-based route. Plenty of rural homeowners around Salisbury and Memramcook keep oil backup for outage security, and that’s a valid choice, just a different funding path.
How long does approval take, and is the money really upfront?
Plan on several weeks to a few months from application to approval, which is why applying in spring or summer beats scrambling in November. OHPA is unusual in that the payment is issued upfront once you’re approved, before installation. NB Power rebates work the traditional way, paid out after the work is done and verified.
What if my tank starts leaking while I’m waiting on grant approval?
Stop everything and deal with the leak first, because a spill can cost more than ten conversions. Shut off the tank valve if it’s safe to reach, keep ignition sources away, and call our 24/7 line at (506) 806-0900. Our emergency oil tank service covers leaking and failing tanks across Greater Moncton, and a controlled same-week removal is always cheaper than a cleanup.