Ontario Energy Incentives Guide: IESO, Enbridge Gas & City of Toronto Programs Explained

Why Ontario Energy Incentives Matter for Building Owners

Ontario energy incentives exist to offset the upfront cost of equipment upgrades, and stacking the right programs can dramatically change a retrofit's payback. Understanding which Ontario energy incentives apply to your building — and which stream to apply through — is often the difference between a project that pencils out and one that sits on a shelf. This guide breaks down the three main sources of Ontario energy incentives that Mann Engineering helps building owners navigate: IESO, Enbridge Gas, and the City of Toronto.

IESO Incentives: Prescriptive Stream

The IESO prescriptive stream is one of the fastest-moving Ontario energy incentives available. It offers quick and easy access to incentives: instant discounts are applied directly on the invoice for eligible measures, with minimal paperwork required. For straightforward, well-defined upgrades, the prescriptive stream is typically the simplest path to Ontario energy incentives.

IESO Incentives: Custom Stream

For larger or more complex projects, the IESO custom stream offers incentive rates of $0.20/kWh and $1,800/kW, covering up to 50% of eligible project costs. The custom stream suits projects like chiller plant upgrades, BAS overhauls and multi-measure retrofits where a prescriptive rate doesn't apply. Choosing between the prescriptive and custom stream is one of the first decisions in maximizing available Ontario energy incentives.

IESO BizEnergySaver Program

The BizEnergySaver program provides a free assessment to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption, with the free assessment covering LED fixtures, carbon monoxide sensors and controls for parking garage exhaust fans, and installation of VFDs on fans or pumps. It's a useful entry point into Ontario energy incentives for buildings focused on garage ventilation and lighting.

Enbridge Gas Incentives

Enbridge Gas offers two main tracks worth understanding:

• Prescriptive incentives for eligible natural-gas equipment upgrades

• Year-round commercial incentive covering building automation controls, ventilation equipment upgrades, steam and hot water system efficiency improvements, and heat recovery opportunities, at $0.40/m³ and up to 75% of incremental cost, to a maximum of $100,000

• Energy assessment incentives for HVAC/controls audits, facility air balancing, benchmarking, thermal surveys, steam trap audits and metering installations, ranging from $6,000 to $20,000 depending on annual consumption, and covering up to 50% of eligible costs

  
  

For gas-heated buildings, Enbridge Gas incentives are frequently the largest single source of Ontario energy incentives available for boiler, MUA and controls projects.

City of Toronto Programs

The City of Toronto's Capacity Buy Back Program adds another layer of Ontario energy incentives specifically for Toronto-area buildings, complementing provincial IESO incentives and Enbridge Gas incentives for eligible projects.

How Mann Engineering Helps You Capture Ontario Energy Incentives

Because Ontario energy incentives change by program, building type and measure, Mann Engineering completes the required documentation — including the Technical Input Sheet — using information collected during a free building retrofit assessment. This technical information supports the incentive calculation and the application submission, so building owners don't need to become incentive experts themselves. If you're planning a retrofit and want to know which Ontario energy incentives your building qualifies for, a free assessment from Mann Engineering is the place to start.