FortisBC Dual Fuel Heating System Rebate Returns October 15, 2026: Up to $4,000 ($8,000 Income-Qualified)

Yes, the FortisBC dual fuel heating system rebate is back. Effective October 15, 2026, FortisBC is re-introducing the rebate for residential customers at up to $4,000 and for income-qualified customers at up to $8,000, terms and conditions apply. To qualify, you must replace an existing gas furnace that is at least 15 years old with a qualifying dual fuel system, meaning a heat pump paired with a gas furnace, that carries a single AHRI certified reference number covering the heat pump’s outdoor unit, its indoor unit and the furnace model number. In the Lower Mainland the system must be commissioned to switch over from heat pump to furnace at 5 degrees C or lower, it must be installed after October 15, 2026, and it must be installed by a Technical Safety BC licensed gas contractor who is a member in good standing of the Home Performance Contractor Network and listed for this rebate at the time of installation. Your contractor submits the commissioning information and photos; you apply for the rebate yourself. BC Wide Home Services designs and installs dual fuel systems across Metro Vancouver, and this guide walks through every requirement, the order of steps from first phone call to rebate, and exactly where a properly planned installation meets each rule. Program details can change, so confirm current terms and deadlines with FortisBC before you commit to equipment.

What is the FortisBC dual fuel heating system rebate and what is changing on October 15, 2026?

A dual fuel heating system is a heat pump and a gas furnace working as one system on one set of ductwork. The heat pump handles heating through most of the year, and the gas furnace takes over when the outdoor temperature drops below a set point, called the switchover or balance temperature. In summer the same heat pump runs in reverse and provides central air conditioning. FortisBC’s rebate is designed around exactly that pairing: it rewards homeowners who retire an old gas furnace and replace it with a heat pump plus a new furnace that are certified to work together.

FortisBC has announced that it is re-introducing the dual fuel heating system rebate for residential and income-qualified customers, with program details effective October 15, 2026. The residential rebate is up to $4,000. The income-qualified rebate is up to $8,000. Both amounts are maximums, not guarantees, and terms and conditions apply. FortisBC has said full program details and deadlines will be posted on its rebates and offers page after October 15, so treat this article as a plain-language explanation of the announced requirements and check the official terms before buying equipment.

Alongside the dual fuel rebate, FortisBC is also re-introducing additional income-qualified rebates on October 15, 2026: water heater up to $2,500, thermostat up to $200, ventilation up to $2,400, insulation up to $2,000, and windows and doors up to $7,500. Eligibility for those is set by FortisBC, and you should confirm with them which ones apply to your household.

Who qualifies for the dual fuel rebate? Every eligibility requirement explained

The announced program has a short list of requirements, but each one is specific and each one can disqualify a project if it is missed. The table below lists every requirement from the FortisBC notice, what it means in practice, and how a BC Wide installation is planned around it.

What does the AHRI certified reference number requirement actually mean?

AHRI, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, runs a certification directory that tests and lists specific combinations of equipment. A heat pump outdoor unit on its own is not enough. The directory lists an outdoor unit together with a particular indoor coil or air handler, and for a dual fuel system, together with a particular furnace model. That combination receives one AHRI certified reference number.

The rebate requires that single reference number to cover all three pieces: the heat pump’s outdoor unit, the heat pump’s indoor unit, and the furnace model number. This is the requirement that most often trips up rushed jobs. If an installer swaps in a different coil because it was in stock, or pairs an outdoor unit with a furnace that is not listed alongside it, the combination may not have a matching reference and the application can fail even though the system heats perfectly well.

The practical rule is simple: the model numbers on your quote should be the model numbers on your invoice and the model numbers installed in your home, and the AHRI reference should be identified before the work starts. When BC Wide quotes a dual fuel rebate project, we build the equipment list as a matched set and identify the reference for that exact combination at the quoting stage. If a supply change forces a substitution, we re-check the reference before installation, not after.

Why does the switchover temperature matter, and how is it set?

In a dual fuel system the thermostat or the system control decides which heat source runs based on outdoor temperature. Above the switchover point the heat pump heats the house. Below it, the gas furnace takes over. A heat pump’s output and efficiency fall as the outdoor air gets colder, so the switchover point is where the system hands the job to the furnace.

FortisBC’s program sets a maximum switchover temperature by region: 5 degrees C or lower in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island, and 2 degrees C or lower in the Southern Interior and Northern BC. In other words, the heat pump must be allowed to carry the house down to at least those temperatures before the furnace takes over. A system configured to switch to gas at a higher outdoor temperature would not meet the requirement.

The switchover is set during commissioning, usually through the thermostat’s installer settings or the outdoor unit’s control, often with an outdoor temperature sensor. Setting it is a technician task, because it interacts with defrost behaviour, staging, and the furnace’s own controls. Homeowners should not change installer-level settings after commissioning, since the commissioned setting is what the rebate is based on. If comfort is a concern on a particular cold morning, call us and we will look at airflow, staging and thermostat setup rather than raising the switchover.

Step by step: how do you go from first call to rebate?

The order matters with this rebate, because several requirements have to be true on the day of installation and cannot be fixed afterwards. Here is the sequence we follow with Metro Vancouver homeowners.

• Step 1: Check the basics yourself. Confirm you are a FortisBC natural gas customer, that your home is heated by a gas furnace, and roughly how old it is. If you think you may be income-qualified, check FortisBC’s eligibility terms for the income-qualified stream after October 15.
• Step 2: Book a free in-home estimate. For replacements and new installations, BC Wide’s in-home estimate is free. We look at the furnace rating plate, ductwork, electrical panel capacity, outdoor unit location, condensate and venting routes, and the gas line.
• Step 3: Confirm the contractor’s HPCN listing. Ask the contractor to confirm they are a TSBC licensed gas contractor in good standing with HPCN and listed for the dual fuel rebate. Call us at (604) 473-9690 and we will confirm our current status for this rebate.
• Step 4: Review a written quote with matched model numbers. The quote should list the outdoor unit, indoor coil or air handler, and furnace model numbers, plus the AHRI certified reference number for that combination.
• Step 5: Read the official FortisBC terms before signing. Check the current terms and conditions and any application deadlines on FortisBC’s rebates page.
• Step 6: Permits and scheduling. The gas permit and any electrical permit are arranged before work begins, and installation is scheduled on or after October 15, 2026.
• Step 7: Installation and commissioning. The old furnace is photographed before removal, the new system is installed and commissioned with the switchover at or below 5 degrees C, and photos of the new system are taken.
• Step 8: Contractor submission. The contractor submits the commissioning information and photos of the old and new systems through FortisBC’s commissioning app.
• Step 9: You apply. Using the invoice, model numbers, AHRI reference and other documents your contractor provides, you submit your own rebate application to FortisBC within the program’s deadlines.

What does BC Wide do on a dual fuel rebate installation?

BC Wide Home Services is an independent, Technical Safety BC licensed HVAC contractor based in Burnaby and serving Metro Vancouver since 1999. We are not a factory-authorized dealer for any single brand, which lets us choose the heat pump and furnace combination that fits your house and has a valid AHRI listing, rather than the one a dealer agreement pushes.

On a rebate project, our work covers equipment selection and AHRI matching, removal of the old gas furnace, installation of a new high-efficiency gas furnace and the heat pump outdoor and indoor units, refrigerant line set work by certified technicians, condensate drainage, venting, gas piping connections, electrical connections, and a compatible thermostat. Many homeowners also add a smart thermostat installation, which can manage dual fuel staging cleanly and may tie into the income-qualified thermostat rebate where that applies to your household.

If your gas water heater is also nearing the end of its life, it can make sense to plan both projects together. BC Wide installs gas tank water heaters and gas tankless water heaters, and income-qualified customers should check whether the re-introduced water heater rebate applies to them. Ventilation, insulation and windows and doors are also part of FortisBC’s income-qualified offering, but those are outside the services BC Wide provides, so you would arrange them with a specialist in that field.

Every installation includes the gas permit and Technical Safety BC compliance, commissioning, and documentation. Diagnostic service calls are $189.00, and if you go ahead with a replacement or new installation through BC Wide, that $189.00 diagnostic charge is waived and taken off the installation.

Why does dual fuel suit Metro Vancouver homes?

Our coastal climate is close to ideal for a dual fuel system. Most of the heating season in Burnaby, Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, New Westminster and the North Shore sits in a mild, damp band where a heat pump works comfortably. Cold snaps do arrive, often with outflow winds, and those are exactly the nights a gas furnace is built for. A switchover at or below 5 degrees C lets the heat pump carry the mild months while the furnace carries the hard ones, without relying on electric resistance heat to fill the gap.

Older housing stock is the other reason. Many homes in the region still run a gas furnace installed in the 1990s or 2000s, which is exactly the age bracket the rebate targets. Those homes usually already have ductwork, a gas line and a venting path, so a dual fuel retrofit reuses infrastructure the house already has. The common hurdles are duct sizing, room for an indoor coil on top of the furnace, electrical panel capacity for the outdoor unit, and a suitable outdoor unit location that respects neighbours, setbacks and, in townhouses and strata, the strata’s rules. Strata owners should get written strata approval for the outdoor unit location before scheduling.

Damp winters also make condensate management and outdoor unit placement important. The outdoor unit sheds water during defrost and should sit on a stand or pad with drainage, clear of roof drips and snow drift, so it does not ice up. These are design details we handle during the estimate.

When should you call a licensed technician, and what can you do yourself?

Homeowners can do the paperwork side: confirming gas service and account details, reading the furnace rating plate if it is visible without removing panels, gathering any income documentation FortisBC asks for, reading the official terms, and submitting the rebate application. You can also change your filter and keep the outdoor unit clear of leaves and debris after installation.

Everything else is licensed work. In BC, gas appliance installation, gas piping and venting must be done by a Technical Safety BC licensed gas contractor under permit. Refrigerant handling is restricted to certified technicians, and most electrical work for the outdoor unit requires a licensed electrical contractor and permit. Switchover settings and commissioning are technician tasks. For this rebate specifically, the installer must also be HPCN listed for the rebate at the time of installation, so a do-it-yourself or unlisted install would not qualify.

Call a licensed technician now if your existing furnace is short-cycling, producing soot, making new noises, tripping its limit, or if a carbon monoxide alarm has sounded. If the furnace is failing before October 15, call us at (604) 473-9690: we can talk through safe options and how timing affects rebate eligibility. Same-day visits are sometimes possible during the heating season, depending on the schedule that day, but we never promise a guaranteed arrival window.

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