The City of Vancouver's own multiplex electrical guide says heat pumps for heating and cooling are considered standard in the Vancouver new construction market. If you are building a custom home, planning a multiplex or renovating an older house, you will make the same set of choices: which type of heat pump, how big, where the outdoor unit goes, how it affects your electrical service, and whether a rebate can help pay for it.
In this post we walk you through each of those choices in plain words. We start with how a heat pump works, then the types, then sizing, noise and placement. We finish with the City's rules and the rebates you can apply for as of October 2026, with the date each page was last changed.
The City of Vancouver's heat pumps page gives a simple description: a heat pump is an appliance that moves heat in and out of your home using electricity. In winter it takes heat from the outdoor air and moves it inside. In summer it does the reverse and moves heat out. One system gives you both heating and cooling.
BC Hydro's bonus announcement of August 5, 2026 estimates that over a heating season, a heat pump gives two to three times as much heat energy as the electricity it uses.
Every air source heat pump has two parts. The City's page says it needs an outdoor unit, set on the ground or mounted on a wall. Inside, the warm or cool air reaches the rooms either through ducts or through wall or ceiling units with no ducts.
Vancouver winters are mild. The City's Multiplex Electrical Process Guide gives the region's design heating temperature as minus 7°C to minus 10°C, which is the cold day a heating system is designed for. It says cold-climate air source heat pumps can heat down to minus 25°C, so they can cover the full heating load all year here, often without electric backup heaters.
The City's guide describes three kinds of air source heat pump. Each one suits a different home.
One outdoor unit and one indoor unit, usually in the main living area. The guide says most models run from ¾ ton to 2 tons. A "ton" is a measure of heating and cooling output, and CleanBC's rebate rules set 1 ton at 12,000 BTU. Because one indoor unit cannot reach every room, the guide says these homes usually need backup heat, such as baseboards in the bedrooms.
This can suit a small home, such as a ground floor suite planned for grandparents, where the living room is the main space and the bedrooms are close by.
One outdoor unit feeds several indoor units, so each room or zone gets its own. The guide says a well-designed system can cover a home's full heating load with no backup heat. Most models run from 1.5 to 3 tons, which the guide says is likely more than one multiplex home needs.
One outdoor unit connects to an indoor unit that sends air through ducts, or water through pipes, to every room. The guide says these can also cover a whole home's load without backup heat, with models from 1.5 or 2 tons up to 5 tons. In a custom home with room for ducts in the floors and ceilings, a ducted system keeps the walls clear of indoor units.
A heat pump water heater uses the same idea to heat your hot water tank. The City's guide says a hybrid heat pump water heater uses about one third of the power of a regular electric tank, needs 1 to 2 kilowatts to run, and takes longer to recover after heavy use. Most come with a backup electric element. In the guide's example, the heat pump tank has a 2,250 watt rating, compared to 4,500 watts for a standard electric tank of similar size.
For a family with teenagers who all shower in the morning, ask your plumber whether a larger tank is worth it, because of the slower recovery.
A heat loss calculation works out how much heat each room loses on the coldest design day, through its walls, windows, roof and air leaks. The result tells you how much heating the home needs. CSA F280-12 is the CSA Group standard for this calculation in houses, and the CleanBC rebate rules require a heat load calculation done with F280-12 software for a whole-home heat pump rebate.
Size the heat pump to the home. The City's guide warns that a heat pump that is too large for the home turns on and off too often. It calls this short cycling, and says it lowers efficiency and shortens the life of the equipment.
The guide shows how easy it is to oversize in a multiplex. It looks at a 100 square metre home in a six-plex with a design heating load of 2,750 watts. Even the smallest multi-head mini-split is larger than that home needs, so choosing a system to cover the full load gives no benefit in that case. The guide then compares the same home built to the Vancouver Building By-law against the same home built to Passive House levels of insulation and airtightness. The better shell let the designers use a ¾ ton unit in place of a 1 ton unit.
This is where your energy model and your heating design meet. Our post on the BC Energy Step Code for a new home explains the energy model and airtightness tests. The walls, windows and air sealing in that model set the heat loss, and the heat loss sets the heat pump size.
The outdoor unit has a fan and a compressor, so it makes some sound. On a Vancouver lot with homes close together, its location matters to you and to your neighbours.
For existing houses, duplexes and laneway homes, the City's bulletin Heat Pumps for Existing Ground-Oriented Dwellings, last amended July 1, 2024, sets the rules. A heat pump needs no development permit when:
- the outdoor unit is electric, ground-mounted and has an inverter driven variable speed compressor, which means it can run slower when less heat is needed;
- it sits in one of the locations the bulletin's diagram allows, where it is least visible or audible to neighbours;
- there is at most one outdoor unit per yard, though stacked units are allowed in a front or back yard if landscaping screens them from the street.
The outdoor unit must not block parking or suite access, drain its condensation onto a required pathway, or sit on a required pathway. It must be at least 90 cm from the property line. The City recommends a unit with a sound power level of 55 dBA or less, and every heat pump must meet Noise Control By-law 6555 when it runs. Most wall-mounted units need a further review of the location and the structure.
The bulletin is written for existing homes. For a new house or multiplex, your designer shows the outdoor units on the permit drawings. Plan them early, next to the bins, bikes and meters, so they do not end up under a bedroom window. In a multiplex, think about who lives where. A unit outside the grandparents' ground floor bedroom will be heard there first.
Every heat pump adds to the power your building needs at the same moment. In a multiplex, several heat pumps, several hot water tanks and car chargers all come through one BC Hydro connection. Our post on BC Hydro electrical service for a Vancouver multiplex explains how the service is sized and how equipment choices change it. Read it before you choose equipment, and ask your electrician to run the load calculation with your real heat pump models.
The City of Vancouver uses its own Vancouver Building By-law. We could not open vancouver.ca directly, so we read the City's pages through Internet Archive copies, and we give the copy date for each one.
The City's page on zoning amendments for the Climate Emergency Response (archive copy of January 9, 2026) says that since January 1, 2022 the by-law has required zero emissions equipment for space heating and hot water, and extra roof insulation, in new low-rise residential buildings. The City's page on energy requirements for new homes (archive copy of May 21, 2026) adds the detail:
- It covers new homes of 1 to 3 storeys: one and two family homes, townhomes and rowhomes, laneway homes, secondary suites, and stacked buildings up to 3 storeys.
- Most new low-rise homes need electric space heating and hot water. Electric baseboards and electric heat pumps both meet this.
- Mechanical permits have been required for all new heating systems since July 1, 2022.
- From March 1, 2025, the by-law lines up with the top level, EL-4, of the BC Zero Carbon Step Code for homes that follow the energy modelling path.
- A new home over 325 square metres must keep its emissions under 2 tonnes of CO2 a year.
The City's mechanical permit page (archive copy of February 20, 2026) adds one more rule: since January 1, 2023, new permanently installed air conditioning in a detached one or two dwelling home must be an electric heat pump that can also heat.
The City also gives some room for the equipment. The zoning page says that for residential buildings of 3 storeys or less, the Director of Planning may leave up to 2.3 square metres per home out of the floor area count, to fit zero emissions heating or hot water equipment. A roof with at least 0.35 metres of insulation can be 0.15 metres taller. On a multiplex, ask your designer to use both.
Because we read archive copies, confirm the current rules with the City of Vancouver before your design is final.
A large renovation can trigger the same electric heating rules. The City's page on energy requirements for home renovations (archive copy of January 9, 2026) covers single detached houses, duplex units and laneway or infill homes. For permit applications after September 15, 2025, it lists:
- Under $152,999 total project cost: no energy upgrades required.
- $153,000 to $254,999: an existing gas hot water system must be replaced with electric, heat pump or hybrid, with some exceptions.
- Over $255,000: an EnerGuide home evaluation before and after, two more energy upgrades, and electric space heating and hot water.
The mechanical permit page says a heat pump needs a mechanical permit and an electrical permit, and the electrical permit must be issued before the heat pump goes in. Only a licensed plumbing, electrical, gas or HVAC contractor can apply. Most mechanical permits are issued online the same day. New buildings need a rough-in inspection and a final inspection.
In the February 2026 copy, the fee for a 1 to 3 storey building was $432 plus $15.30 for each kilowatt. Check the current fee with the City before you budget.
The rebates below are for existing homes. Before you plan around a rebate, read the age rule first.
This is the main program, funded by BC Hydro and FortisBC with the Province. Its program requirements apply to invoices dated on or after May 15, 2026. The page was last changed on September 1, 2026, according to its own page data. The general rules:
- The home must be a year-round primary residence and at least 12 months old. New homes under 12 months old are excluded. So are additions that add floor area, and renovations so large that the home needs a new home registration under the Homeowner Protection Act.
- A multiplex home can qualify if it has its own meter and its own outside door, in a building of 3 storeys or less with up to five homes and no shared hallways, elevator or central heating plant.
- Utility accounts in the name of a strata corporation do not qualify.
- Heat pumps must be installed by a member of the Home Performance Contractor Network. Self-installs do not qualify.
- You apply within six months of the invoice date.
For a Vancouver home heated with electricity, the amounts are:
- Whole home heat pump: up to $4,000. It must replace hard-wired electric heat such as baseboards, be sized with an F280-12 heat load calculation to heat the whole home to 22°C at minus 5°C or colder without backup resistance heat, and appear on the rebate list and the cold climate heat pump list. Homes over 1,200 square feet need a multi-split or central system.
- Partial home heat pump: up to $1,500. It must meet at least half of the home's heating needs and serve an open living space.
- Heat pump water heater: up to $1,000. It must replace the home's main electric water heater and be listed at Tier 2 or higher on the program's product list. BC Hydro's water heater rebate page gives the same terms.
- Two upgrade bonus: $300, for two bonus-eligible upgrades within 18 months of each other.
If your Vancouver home is heated with natural gas, this program offers no heat pump rebate. Its gas-to-heat-pump rebates are only for homes north of, and including, the District of 100 Mile House.
The Better Homes site also shows a notice that it is not being updated during the provincial election period. Call the CleanBC Better Homes Energy Coach at 1-844-881-9790 to confirm the current amounts before you sign a quote.
BC Hydro's heating rebate page shows no "last updated" date, and its bonus announcement is dated August 5, 2026. The bonus pays up to $1,000 for an eligible air source heat pump upgrade that is completed, invoiced and paid between August 1 and October 31, 2026, with a complete application by November 30, 2026. Funding is limited and first come, first served.
The income-based Energy Savings Program (page last changed July 6, 2026) lists heat pump rebates of up to $13,000 for ground-oriented homes heated with gas, oil, propane, electricity or wood, and heat pump water heater rebates of up to $3,500. Eligibility depends on how many people live in the home, their combined income and the assessed value of the property. The same 12 month home age rule applies, and you cannot combine it with the Home Renovation Rebate Program.
Natural Resources Canada's Greener Homes page, dated August 4, 2026, lists the Canada Greener Homes Grant and the Canada Greener Homes Loan as closed. Its Affordability Program page, dated August 31, 2026, lists British Columbia, with no-cost retrofits such as heat pumps for low-to-median-income homeowners and tenants, applied for through BC Hydro or FortisBC.
Ask for a Room-by-Room Heat Loss Calculation. Get it before any quote for equipment. It protects you from an oversized system.
Plan the Outdoor Units on the Site Plan. Mark each one with its distance to the property line and the nearest bedroom window, yours and your neighbour's.
Ask for the Sound Rating in Writing. Compare it with the City's 55 dBA recommendation.
Check the Rebate Rules Before You Sign. For a renovation, confirm your contractor is in the Home Performance Contractor Network and that the model is on the rebate list. For a new build, plan your budget without a rebate.
Keep the Paperwork. File the heat loss report, the permits, the model numbers and the warranty cards with your house papers. Whoever owns the home next will need them.
Costar's process page says the client reviews the electrical, lighting, plumbing and HVAC choices during construction, and that Costar supervises the crew and subtrades and carries out the rough-ins for plumbing and heating and the City inspections. By Costar's own account, each project has a construction manager who coordinates the subtrades, orders materials and checks finished work against the plans. On a heat pump, that means the designer, the energy advisor, the HVAC contractor and the electrician work from the same heat loss numbers and the same drawings.
In the REW video on the We Killarney six-plex, Louis Nguyen of Costar says the team wants its homes to "last for generations". A heat pump sized to the home, in a quiet spot, with its papers kept, helps with that. You can see how a Vancouver multiplex was planned on our We Killarney Townhomes project page, and a townhouse renovation on our Kerrisdale Townhouse project page.
If you are building or renovating in Vancouver and want help choosing and planning a heat pump, our team is glad to walk through your plans with you. Tell us about your project today.
Related on this site: Custom homes in Vancouver · Multiplex construction in Vancouver · Building in Vancouver · Book a one-hour project consultation
