GRANTS · HYDRO-QUÉBEC
Hydro-Québec support — up to $5M per eligible project
Efficient Solutions offers two paths: OSE 6.0 for 200+ prescriptive measures and Custom Offer for engineered savings. Current support can reach $5M per project, subject to eligibility and approval.
Trusted by
- Up to $5M
- Per projectCurrent OSE 6.0 and Custom Offer project cap for eligible electric-efficiency measures.
- Up to $0.45
- Per kWh savedCurrent Custom Offer rate ceiling, subject to eligible costs and program calculation rules.
- Up to $60K
- Energy-analysis supportUp to $50K for an efficiency analysis or $60K when combined with power-demand management.
Two ways to qualify
Efficient Solutions — Simplified or Customized
Hydro-Québec's Buildings program runs two parallel routes. Most measures fit one or the other; some projects file both.
Efficient Solutions — Simplified Option
Hydro-Québec's prescriptive route. A wide range of the most common energy-efficiency measures qualify; the subsidy is calculated using the OSE tool — Hydro-Québec's software for prescriptive measure calculations across commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings.
Efficient Solutions — Customized Option
Engineered measurement-and-verification route. Eligible savings equal the difference between a baseline scenario and the proposed efficient scenario, measured or calculated over one year. Existing buildings use the equipment in place as baseline; new builds use Hydro-Québec-approved standard equipment.
How the Customized grant is calculated
Current Custom Offer guardrails
The public figures are ceilings, not a quote. We establish the baseline, eligible costs, and modeled savings before estimating support.
Up to $0.45 per kWh saved
The Custom Offer uses modeled eligible electricity savings, subject to Hydro-Québec review and the current program calculation rules.
Up to 75% of eligible costs
Eligible project costs create a second ceiling. The final support amount is never inferred from energy savings alone.
Up to $5M per project
The current project ceiling applies to both OSE 6.0 and Custom Offer projects, subject to the applicable terms.
Analysis support up to $60K
Hydro-Québec may support an energy analysis up to $50,000, or $60,000 when it includes power-demand management.
Eligibility
What's eligible — and what's explicitly not
The Buildings program funds electric-efficiency measures on commercial and institutional sites. It does not fund switching electric load onto another fuel.
Eligible — commercial and institutional buildings
Measures that reduce the electricity consumption of a building or group of buildings — heat pumps, controls, motors, lighting, envelope, and efficient HVAC equipment. Eligible on the commercial and institutional markets.
Not eligible — energy conversion
Hydro-Québec's Buildings program does not subsidize energy-conversion measures — for example, switching from electricity to natural gas. Conversion projects route through Énergir or ÉcoPerformance instead.
How we work
Four steps from eligibility to one-year reporting
Eligibility review
Free check against the Buildings program — Simplified or Customized — based on your fuel mix, building type, and project scope.
Grant-optimized design
We engineer eligible measures into the design — and structure the baseline-vs-efficient scenario so the M&V holds up at filing.
Application management
OSE-tool filings for Simplified projects, full baseline-vs-efficient submissions for Customized — our Energy division handles both.
Performance reporting
One-year measurement against baseline, reported in the format Hydro-Québec requires for Customized payouts.
Hydro-Québec FAQ
What our clients ask before filing
Who qualifies for the Hydro-Québec Buildings program?
Commercial and institutional sites — office towers, retail, multi-residential portfolios, hospitals, schools, universities, archives, government buildings. The OSE tool that drives the Simplified Option also covers measures applicable to the industrial sector; industrial-only projects that don't fit the Buildings program typically route through ÉcoPerformance. The program does not apply to single-family residential buildings. Eligible measures include heat pumps, controls, motors, lighting, envelope upgrades, and efficient HVAC equipment.
Why doesn't Hydro-Québec subsidize switching from electricity to natural gas?
Hydro-Québec's Buildings program is structured to reduce electricity consumption — not to fund moving load off the electric grid. Energy conversion away from electricity (for example, replacing electric heat with natural gas) is explicitly excluded. If conversion is part of the strategy, Énergir's programs and ÉcoPerformance cover the fossil-fuel side, and we stack the applications accordingly.
Simplified vs Customized — which option fits our project?
Simplified runs on the OSE 6.0 catalog of 200+ measures. Custom Offer uses a baseline-versus-efficient engineering path for projects that do not fit the prescriptive catalog. Both paths currently cap support at $5M per project; Custom Offer support can reach $0.45/kWh saved or 75% of eligible costs, subject to the program calculation and approval.
What are the current Custom Offer ceilings?
The current offer can support up to $0.45 per eligible kWh saved or 75% of eligible costs, with a maximum of $5M per project. Those are ceilings, not a guaranteed amount; Hydro-Québec applies the program calculation to the submitted baseline, measures, costs, and savings.
Can Hydro-Québec rebates be stacked with Énergir and ÉcoPerformance?
Yes. Multiple energy-optimization grants can apply to the same project. ÉcoPerformance caps total public funding at 75% of eligible cost from all sources combined, so the application stack has to be structured to maximize that envelope. Hydro-Québec rebates cover the electric-efficiency side, Énergir covers natural-gas measures, and ÉcoPerformance covers the GHG-reduction layer — they fit together when filed coherently.
What does our Energy division handle on a Hydro-Québec application?
End-to-end. Eligibility review, OSE 6.0 versus Custom Offer routing, prescriptive filings, baseline-versus-efficient engineering, energy-analysis applications where applicable, and the reporting required for the selected path. The client provides building access, utility history, and approvals.
Grant eligibility
Check your project's grant eligibility
Tell us about your building and the measures you are considering. A Kolostat grant specialist will identify the applicable program and next steps.
Get started
Find out what your building qualifies for
Download the grant guide for the math on past projects financed through Quebec grant programs — then talk to our Energy division about yours.