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Rebate Programs

CLOSED FOR THE YEAR

2025 Community Wood Smoke Reduction Program

Are you ready to become more healthy and climate-smart in 2025? The CVRD can help with the new Community Wood Smoke Reduction Program that provides rebates for replacing or removing old, smoky wood-burning appliances with the Wood-Burning Appliance Exchange Initiative and Wood-Burning Appliance Bounty Initiative!

Rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wood-Burning Appliance Exchange Initiative

Like previous years, the CVRD’s Wood-Burning Appliance Exchange Program is in place to provide financial assistance to replace old, smoky wood-burning appliances with healthier, more efficient heating options. This year, there are more incentives than ever with the rebates below:

Heat Pump: A $2,350 incentive for replacing a wood-burning appliance with a heat pump. $2,200 is provided by the CVRD and a $150 discount should be offered by participating retailers.
Pellet Appliance: A $1,550 incentive for replacing a woodstove or an outdoor wood boiler with a 2020 or newer EPA-certified pellet stove or pellet boiler. $1,500 is provided by the CVRD and a $50 discount should be offered by participating retailers.
Wood-Burning Appliance: A $650 incentive for replacing:
- An uncertified wood-burning appliance
- An EPA- or CSA-certified wood stove that is at least 5 years old for a 2020 or newer EPA-certified woodstove. $600 is provided by the CVRD and a $50 discount should be offered by participating retailers.

The Wood-Burning Appliance Bounty Initiative

Beginning in 2023, the CVRD is providing a separate reward incentive for residents to remove existing non-EPA or CSA-certified wood-burning appliances without installing new heating appliances. This $300 one-time incentive is limited to one appliance per household.

Apply for the CVRD Rebate!

Read the Program Guidelines to find out more about the rebate requirements before filling out the application.

If you would like to receive your rebate by direct deposit, please fill out the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) form that is included with the application form and submit with your completed application.

All applications must be completed and submitted by November 30, 2025. Applications received after the deadline will not be eligible for a rebate.

Personal information supplied by you on the application form is collected under the authority of s. 26 (c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, (the Act). Personal information collected, (name, mailing address, contact number/email), will be used for the purpose of rebate distribution to eligible applicants and may be shared with the province in conjunction with the Community Wood Smoke Reduction Program Participant Survey. By submitting this form you consent to the release of your personal information pursuant to s. 33 (2) (c) of the Act. If you have concerns regarding the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information please contact the CVRD Information & Privacy Officer by email, phone: 250.746.2500 or toll free at: 1.800.665.3955 during regular business hours, 8 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

Stack Rebates to Reduce Costs!

Additional rebates (~$6,000) to support your healthy home heating system are available through the federal Greener Homes Program and the provincial BC Clean Homes rebate programs. Visit BC Home Energy Coach or phone 1.844.881.9790, who will help you navigate rebate options and maximize rebates!

Additional rebates to offset 80% of the upgrade cost (up to $12,000) are available through BC Clean Homes to support home heating upgrades within First Nation communities. Coupling this with a CVRD rebate may cover 100% of the upgrade cost!

Heat Pumps – Keeping you Warm in the Winter and Cool in the Summer

Heat pumps not only heat your home, but they also keep you cool during heat waves and can filter indoor air quality impacted by dust, pollen and wildfire smoke. Heat pumps may also reduce home insurance costs.

To learn more about how heat pumps can benefit you and the Cowichan Valley as a whole, click on the poster below!

Tips for Reducing Air Pollution

Heat pumps are powered by clean, hydroelectricity which means that if you switch your current fossil fuel heating system (natural gas, propane or oil) to a heat pump, you’ll be reducing your household’s environmental footprint.

If you are considering a heat pump, this video, provided by Clean BC, the Regional District of Nanaimo and the CVRD, has lots of helpful information.

Dry wood reduces air pollution
Dry wood saves you money. To get the most out of your firewood, only use dry firewood (wood with less than 20% moisture content); otherwise, your fire won’t burn as hot and you will produce harmful smoke by drying wood in your woodstove. Also, you have to use a lot more wood to try to stay warm if your wood is not properly dry.

Use a $20 moisture meter to verify the moisture content of firewood; simply insert the probes into the firewood log to obtain a reading.
If you don’t want to get a moisture meter, check the firewood log ends. Dry, seasoned wood should have cracks and split ends. Also, if you knock dry wood together, you should hear a hollow sound, not a wet ‘thud’.
Within 15 minutes of starting a fire in your woodstove, no visible smoke should be emitted from your chimney.

Land Acknowledgement

The CVRD is in the ancestral and unceded territories of First Nations including (but not limited to) Quw'utsun (Cowichan Tribes), MÁLEXEŁ (Malahat), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), c̓uubaʕsaʔtx̣ (Ts'uubaa-asatx), xeláltxw (Halalt), Spune’luxutth (Penelakut), Stz'uminus, Leey’qsun (Lyackson), Diitiidʔaaʔtx̣ (Ditidaht) and P’a:chi:da?aht (Pacheedaht) Peoples. Local First Nations Peoples have stewarded the lands of this region since time immemorial. The CVRD is committed to the ongoing journey of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the region by strengthening cooperation, collaboration, and relationship building.