The furnace market in New Brunswick

Market and buyers

The direct answer: electricity and heat pumps lead, with oil and wood still present.

Statistics Canada's Table 38-10-0286-01 shows 39% of New Brunswick households relying mainly on electricity in 2023 and 6% on wood, while heat pumps were the primary system for 27%. The main markets are Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton, followed by Dieppe, Riverview, Quispamsis, Miramichi and Edmundston.

Typical furnace-related buyers:

• owners of older homes with oil furnaces looking to switch or replace
• heat pump owners who want reliable backup heat for the coldest weeks
• rural homeowners for whom service distance matters as much as price

Climate and seasonality

Winters bring cold and plenty of snow, and they bite harder inland and up north than on the Fundy shore. Demand rises sharply in the first cold weeks of the season and again during deep freezes, when heat pumps lean on backup heat. Fall is the time to reach homeowners planning a change before winter.

Regulators to know

• Technical Inspection Services, within the Department of Public Safety, is the office to know for propane and natural gas installation permits and the licensing that goes with them.
• WorkSafeNB covers workplace safety.
• The Financial and Consumer Services Commission handles consumer protection.

These links are for reference only.

Programs as of October 2026

Save Energy NB, run by NB Power, lists a Total Home Energy Savings Program with incentives for renovations including heating, and an Enhanced Energy Savings Program for income-qualified households; we have not confirmed current amounts. The co-delivered oil-to-heat-pump program closed registration on June 30, 2026, with paperwork due October 1, 2026 and upgrades to be completed by March 31, 2027.

As of October 2026, no federal Greener Homes Affordability agreement had been signed with New Brunswick. Our oil conversion brief covers the wider closure of oil-to-heat-pump funding.

Language

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province. According to the Commissioner of Official Languages, the province's language law guarantees English or French service from the provincial government, but it places no bilingualism duty on private firms such as furnace contractors. In practice, in Moncton, Dieppe, Edmundston and the northeast, offering service and marketing in both languages is a competitive advantage.

Questions New Brunswick homeowners ask

• "Can I still get help to get off oil?" New registrations for the co-delivered oil-to-heat-pump program closed June 30, 2026. Point people to Save Energy NB for what remains.
• "Do I need to keep my oil furnace as backup?" It depends on the house and the heat pump; let your technician advise.
• "Can you serve me in French?" If yes, say so prominently.

Short, dated answers to these questions on your site save your team time on the phone.

Local business mix and how we would market here

New Brunswick's heating businesses are mostly small and regional, often combining oil service, heat pumps and electrical work. Word of mouth and local reputation carry a lot of weight.

Our approach here:

1. Serve approved oil-conversion customers first. Households already registered under the closed program must finish upgrades by March 31, 2027.
2. Market backup heat honestly. Heat pump owners want to know what happens in a deep freeze. Our dual-fuel campaign service covers that message.
3. Build bilingual pages where your customers are. Separate, properly written English and French pages beat machine translation.
4. Strengthen local search. In small markets, a complete Google Business Profile and recent reviews often decide the call; see furnace search visibility.

See the coverage hub for the rest of Atlantic Canada. We are a marketing service, not a heating contractor.