Ontario Electricity Rebate

Effective November 1, 2019, the Ontario government introduced the new Ontario Electricity Rebate under the Ontario Rebate for Electricity Consumers Act, 2016. It replaced the 8% Provincial Rebate under the previous Fair Hydro Plan. The Ontario Electricity Rebate is provided to eligible consumers, including residential consumers, small businesses, and farms. Currently, eligible customers are provided with a 13.1% reduction on the amount of their bill before HST, effective November 1, 2024.

Certain eligible customers are entitled to receive the Ontario Electricity Rebate automatically, while other eligible customers must submit a self-declaration form in order to receive the rebate. More information on eligibility and self-declaration is provided below.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Ontario Electricity Rebate, at least one of the following requirements must be met:

1. A demand for electricity of 50 kilowatts or less.

You receive the rebate automatically when your account has a demand for electricity of 50 kilowatts or less.

2. Uses not more than 250,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year

You receive the rebate automatically when your account uses not more than 250,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Eligibility is based on your metered usage rather than your adjusted usage (metered usage plus losses).

3. A farming business

A farming business for the purposes of the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act, 1993, and holds a valid registration number assigned under the Act or the obligation to file a farming business registration form was waived pursuant to an order made under subsection 22 (6) of the Act.

4. A long-term care home

A long-term care home licensed under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, other than an account that is also in respect of a hospital as defined in the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010.

5. A bulk-metered multi-unit complex

A bulk-metered multi-unit complex^[1] that is predominantly residential (other than a retirement residence) and all the following conditions (a, b, c) are met:

The multi-unit complex contains at least two (2) qualifying units ^[2], and
At least 50 percent of units are qualifying units, and,
No part of the multi-unit complex is one of the following:
- A hotel, motel/motor hotel, resort, lodge, tourist camp, cottage/cabin establishment, inn, campground, tourist home, bed and breakfast vacation establishment/vacation home;
- A trailer park that is not a mobile home park;
- A hospital;
- Short-term living accommodation provided as emergency shelter;
- Living accommodation occupied by a person for penal or correctional purposes;
- A premise that is subject to the Ministry of Correctional Services Act or the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017;
- Living accommodation provided by an educational institution to its students or staff where,
  1. The living accommodation is provided primarily to persons under the age of majority, or all major questions related to the living accommodation are decided after consultation with a council or association representing the residents, and
  2. The living accommodation is not intended for year-round occupancy by full-time students or staff and members of their households;
- A university, college of applied arts and technology or other entity that provides post-secondary education;
- A premise that is identified as mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; utilities; construction and manufacturing (North American Industry Classification System codes 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, 33).

6. Common elements of a multi-unit complex that is predominantly residential

Common elements of a multi-unit complex that is predominantly residential, meaning any part of the multi-unit complex that is not a unit and each of the following conditions (a, b, c) are met:

Account relates at least partly to common elements of a multi-unit complex;
The multi-unit complex, including any part of the multi-unit complex to which the common area account does not apply, contains at least two qualifying units ^[2];
At least 50 per cent of the units within the multi-unit complex, including any part of the multi-unit complex to which the account does not apply, are qualifying units.

7. A retirement residence

A retirement residence meaning a multi-unit complex that meets the following conditions (a, b) but is not a long-term care home:

At least 50 per cent of the units in the multi-unit complex are occupied or intended to be occupied as a permanent residence by at least one person who is 65 years of age or older and who is not related to the operator of the multi-unit complex.
The total number of persons who occupy or are intended to occupy the total number of units is at least six.

8. A mobile home park

A mobile home park ^[3] as defined in the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (effective July 1, 2022);

Notes:

^[1] A “multi-unit complex” is defined as a building or related group of buildings containing two or more units.
^[2] A qualifying unit consist of a self-contained room or set of rooms, including kitchen and bathroom facilities, that are for the sole use or intended use of the unit, and are occupied and used as a residence.
^[3] A mobile home park is defined for Ontario Electricity Rates purposes as “the land on which one or more occupied mobile homes are located and includes the rental units and the land, structures, services and facilities of which the landlord retains possession and that are intended for the common use and enjoyment of the tenants of the landlord”. A “mobile home” is “a dwelling that is designed to be made mobile and that is being used as a permanent residence”. Trailer parks that are not mobile home parks do not qualify for the Ontario Electricity Rebate.

Applying for the Ontario Electricity Rebate

If your account has a demand for electricity of 50 kilowatts or less or uses not more than 250,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, you are entitled to receive the Ontario Electricity Rebate automatically.

If your account relates to a farm or a long-term care home, you are entitled to receive the Ontario Electricity Rebate automatically.

If you have one of these accounts but you are not already receiving the rebate, please contact us.

Other eligible accounts must complete the Self-Declaration Form and return to our office by mail or email.

Alectra Utilities customers Guelph and Rockwood customers

New: Starting July 1, 2022, the following types of customer accounts will become eligible for the Ontario Electricity Rebate:

Common areas in individually metered multi-unit complexes that contain at least 50 percent residential units, such as condominiums,
Residential mobile home parks, and
Retirement residences that are not long-term care homes, but do not meet eligibility criteria as a residential multi-unit complex.

Newly eligible customers are encouraged to complete the Self-Declaration Form and return to our office by mail or email.

Alectra Utilities Form

Guelph and Rockwood Form

Businesses currently receiving the rebate under the legacy exemption (i.e., businesses that were not eligible for the Ontario Electricity Rebate but received a temporary exemption under section 1.2 of Ontario Regulation 363/16) that remain eligible under the new provisions (common areas, mobile home parks, retirement residences) should also complete the self-declaration form before the legacy exemption expires on October 31, 2022 to avoid any interruption to their rebate.

Ontario Electricity Rebate Historic Rates

Effective dates

Rate

November 1, 2024 – Current

13.1%

November 1, 2023 – October 31, 2024

19.3%

November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023

11.7%

November 1, 2021 - October 31, 2022

17.0%

May 1, 2021 - October 31, 2021

18.9%

January 1, 2021 - April 30, 2021

21.2%

November 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020

33.2%

November 1, 2019 – October 31, 2020

31.8%

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