Getting the most out of a rebate programme without gaming it

Most rebate money is lost to sequence rather than to eligibility. The measures qualified, the house qualified, the homeowner qualified — and something was done in the wrong order.

The four sequence errors that cost people money

Starting the work before the pre-retrofit evaluation. Once a measure is installed it usually cannot be counted. This is the single commonest loss.

Not pre-registering. British Columbia's programme requires pre-registration before installing and the eligibility code expires three months after approval. Efficiency Manitoba's retrofit programme requires application before work starts.

Using a different advisor for the second visit. Several programmes, Ontario's among them, expect the same registered advisor for both evaluations.

Choosing measures before the evaluation. Medicine Hat's HAT Smart is explicit about this for 2026: only measures listed in your EnerGuide Renovation Upgrade Report are eligible. Decide first, evaluate second, and the rebate is gone.

Bundling, where it is offered

Ontario pays a $500 bonus for bundling three measures, on top of the individual amounts. Where a programme pays per gigajoule saved rather than per measure — Manitoba — bundling is worth more still, because the savings compound.

The deadline nobody should invent

Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program has no published end date. Not on saveonenergy.ca, not on homerenovationsavings.ca, not in the IESO plan it sits inside. If somebody is running a countdown clock at you, they are manufacturing urgency. The real deadlines — Medicine Hat's 15 December 2026, OHPA's receipts by 31 January 2027 - are published, and we list them.