FindSolar.caWhat closed, and when
The federal Greener Homes program wound down in two steps. The Greener Homes Grant, worth up to $5,000, closed to new applicants in February 2024. The Greener Homes Loan, the interest-free financing of up to $40,000 that made many solar projects pencil, stopped taking new applications on October 1, 2025. Natural Resources Canada's own page for the loan now opens with the word Closed. Homeowners already approved continue under their existing terms.
Knowing this protects you in a sales conversation. A pitch that leans on the federal loan in 2026 is working from an old script, and that is worth noticing about the company delivering it.
What replaced it
The federal successor is the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program, which works differently: it funds retrofits directly for income-qualified households, delivered province by province, with no repayment because there is no loan. It can include solar in some streams, but it is not a program the average homeowner applies to for panels. Eligibility is income-tested and rollout timing varies by province, so check the current status for yours on Natural Resources Canada's site.
What is still open in 2026
The useful programs now live below the federal level, and they differ sharply by province. Utility and provincial efficiency agencies run solar and storage offers in several provinces, including rebate programs in the Maritimes and equipment loans in some regions. Alberta's opportunity is structural rather than a rebate: retailers there offer premium summer export rates, which our Solar Club article explains. Ontario has run rebate programs that cannot be combined with net metering, a fork our net metering guide covers. Several municipalities also run property-assessed financing, where repayment rides on your property tax bill.
We are deliberately not printing a program-by-program dollar table here. Amounts, windows and waitlists change faster than any article stays true, and a stale incentive table is exactly the kind of thing this site exists to protect you from. The reliable method: start with our rebates page, where every program amount is verified against its official source and dated, then make your installer walk you through what they will file on your behalf.
How to buy solar in a post-loan market
Three adjustments. First, the math has to work on its own: run the calculators with no incentives and see where you stand, then treat anything on the rebates page you qualify for as upside. Second, financing is now a comparison job, bank loan against HELOC against installer financing, and the financing calculator puts them side by side over 25 years. Third, incentive paperwork is a service worth weighing when you choose an installer; the good ones know the current programs in their region cold.
Sources
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Greener Homes Loan (marked closed) and the Greener Homes Initiative hub. Reviewed August 2026; program status can change after publication.
Common questions
I applied for the loan before October 2025. Am I affected?
Applications approved under the program continue under their existing terms. The closure applies to new applications.
Will the federal loan come back?
Nobody selling you panels knows, and a purchase decision should not wait on a program that may not return. If the math works today, it works; if it only works with a hypothetical future loan, that is your answer for now.
Is solar still worth it without the loan?
In the strong-payback provinces, the planning math holds up on its own; in others it was marginal even with free financing. Our payback guide shows where your province lands, without varnish.