What the City of Toronto basement flooding subsidy pays in 2026

The City of Toronto lists the figures on its Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program page, last updated June 18, 2026. Starting May 1, 2026 the City broadened the programme and now provides up to $6,650 in subsidies per property. The new amounts cover eligible work finished on or after November 12, 2025.

Five eligible items exist, and each one is reimbursed at a maximum of 80 per cent of the invoiced cost against its own limit. A one time home plumbing inspection is capped at $500. Backwater valves are capped at $1,600 per device, up to two devices. A sump pump is capped at $2,250 for one device, and a battery backup for that same pump adds up to $300. Cutting and capping a foundation drain, which is the weeping tile connection to the City sewer, is capped at $400. Eligible costs cover labour, materials and taxes, so the 13 per cent HST on the invoice sits inside the cap instead of outside it.

Two conclusions follow from the 80 per cent rule. One is that no item ever gets fully reimbursed, because the City covers four fifths of the bill and then stops. The other is that a low invoice never hits the cap. MBM Plumbing in Markham charges $500 to $1,200 to swap a sump pump in an existing pit, and 80 per cent of $1,200 is $960, far below the $2,250 maximum. The cap is a ceiling, not a payout.

Older jobs are paid at the older rates. For eligible work finished before November 12, 2025 the City still caps a backwater valve at $1,250 for one device only, a sump pump at $1,750 for one device, and $400 for severance and capping. Claims for that older work must be filed within one year of installation, versus two years for work on or after November 12, 2025.

Homeowners who have just received a quote for a wet basement are often taken aback by this section. The City's eligible work list includes the plumbing assessment, the backwater valve, the sump pump and its battery backup, and the foundation drain severance. Excavation, membrane and weeping tile replacement are absent from it. The waterproofing itself is not subsidised.

In dollar figures, that spread is wide. OCM Excavation lists a full four wall exterior wrap on an average detached Toronto home at $25,000 to $55,000, and Nusite Group lists a complete foundation perimeter at $15,000 to $35,000. Neither figure qualifies on its own. What can qualify is the plumbing hardware that is often installed during the same job: OCM prices a sump pit and pump at $2,500 to $4,500 when the weeping tile has to be severed off the sanitary sewer during an exterior dig, and that pump and that severance are both eligible items.

Downspout disconnection is the other exclusion, and it is a strange one. The City says directly that separating the downspouts from your property's eavestrough system does not qualify for a subsidy. It is also a requirement for getting one: your downspouts must be disconnected from the City's sewer system, or you must have a City exemption, before any of the eligible work counts. You cover the disconnection cost yourself and it earns you eligibility instead of cash.

The City publishes its conditions and they get verified. You must hold the registered title to a single family, duplex, triplex or fourplex home in Toronto. The property must not have used up the lifetime cap for each work category, which means a prior owner may already have taken part of the amount you expect to receive. Your downspouts must be disconnected from the City's sewer system, or you must have a City exemption. All paved areas in the front yard, including parking pads, must meet the City's Zoning By law. You must provide the original electronic invoices from every licensed contractor and sub contractor. And you must owe no taxes or debts to the City when the application is reviewed.

Qualifying does not secure the subsidy either. The City says an application does not promise a subsidy, that money goes to applicants in the order their forms arrive, and that City Council must approve funding each year. Getting the payment can take up to 10 weeks. Plan the project as if you will cover the full cost, and see the subsidy as money that might come back to you later.

The City mandates that your contractor and any sub contractors carry a current City of Toronto business licence when the work happens, and says funding is refused if they lack one. This condition binds the person performing the job, not the job itself, and it gets verified only after your payment has already gone out.

The licence class counts as well. The City's table itself indicates that a Plumbing Contractor (T94), a Plumbing and Heating Contractor (T92) or a Drain Contractor (T87) may carry out all four categories of eligible work. A Building Renovator (T85) appears only for sump pump work and for pipe severance and capping. If a renovator prices a backwater valve within a bigger basement job, the valve component does not qualify for the subsidy under that licence class.

You can check a licence before work begins using the City's Business Licence Lookup or by phoning 416-392-6700. With a subsidy of up to $1,600 per valve and up to $2,250 on a pump, that call is worth placing before the deposit leaves your hands.

A backwater valve requires a building permit from the City of Toronto. The City tells homeowners to get one and to ask for an inspection after installation is finished, and specifically not to close in or cover the valve before that inspection happens. Toronto contractors price the permit plus inspection coordination at $190 to $340 according to Tornado Plumbing and Drains, and the City's building permit fee page lists a minimum fee of $214.79 for 2026. Bypassing the permit not only risks an order to tear the floor open again, it also loses you the subsidy.

A sump pump and battery backup installation, whether combined in one unit or separate, must appear on your contractor's invoice as distinct line items, otherwise the City cannot apply the additional $300 battery backup subsidy. And once the work is done you need photos of the sump pump and of the discharge pipe where it leaves the property for your application. Both are simple to sort out on the day and costly to piece together three weeks later.

While the contractor is on site, read the City's discharge guidance to them: the sump pump must drain onto a permeable surface like a lawn, garden or gravel, a minimum of two metres from the foundation wall.

Each GTA municipality administers its own programme, and one city's rules do not carry over to another. Markham's Private Plumbing Protection Rebate does pay up to $5,000, but only for a single scope: severing the weeping tile from the sanitary lateral and adding a sump pump, as one job. A backwater valve alone has a much lower ceiling of $2,000 outside or $1,750 inside on either lateral, cutting the weeping tile over to a gravity storm connection tops out at $3,000, and relining or fixing a lateral is capped at $2,500. Markham also attaches deadlines the rebate hinges on, with the building permit due by April 30, 2027 and the application filed by July 31, 2027. Those numbers were taken from the City of Markham's published rebate table on 2026-08-08.

Ontario Plumbing Quotes lists Mississauga at up to $7,500 and Hamilton at up to $2,000 through its Residential Protective Plumbing Program. Check the current amount with your own municipality before you book, since a contractor who quotes a rebate figure is repeating a number they saw somewhere, not one they are responsible for.

WaterproofingIndex catalogs 384 firms spanning 59 areas in Toronto and the GTA, with 160 of those listed under sump pumps and backwater valves. The index includes a phone number for 380 of the 384 and a website for 368, so you can call ahead and check licence class before scheduling a site visit.

What the index lacks is licensing information. It stores nothing about whether a listed firm carries a T94, T92, T87 or T85 licence, nothing about how long it has operated, and no completion or warranty records. Those are the details the subsidy hinges on, and the sole reliable source is the City's own Business Licence Lookup. Build the shortlist with the index, then verify it through the City.