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Why there’s no price range yet
We only show price ranges when they’re backed by real LokalMatch quote data or reliable, cited sources. Until then, here’s what usually changes the price — and the quickest way to a real number is to compare quotes.
What affects the price
- Whether the size came from a heat loss calculation or was copied off the plate on the old furnace
- Single-stage, two-stage or modulating, and whether the blower motor is variable speed
- The AFUE of the unit quoted, which for gas sits somewhere in a band from 90 to 98 per cent
- Running new plastic exhaust and combustion air pipe to an outside wall, and how far that run goes
- Where the vent terminates, given snowbanks, plows, decks and the neighbour's window
- Condensate: a floor drain within reach, or a pump and a line to somewhere it can go
- What the quote does about a gas water heater left alone on the chimney the furnace used to share
- Gas line and shut-off work, if what the line has to serve has changed
- Sheet metal where the new cabinet does not match the old plenum and return
- Any electrical work, which in Ontario is a Licensed Electrical Contractor's job and its own permit
- The gas permit the contractor pulls and the inspection that follows
- Extras added while the room is open: a humidifier, a filter cabinet, a new thermostat
- Whether an air conditioner or a heat pump is going on the same system now or later
- Getting the old furnace out and up the basement stairs, and disposing of it
- Emergency replacement in a cold snap against a booked date in the shoulder season
- Oil or electric instead of gas, which changes the equipment, the venting and the certification
What the AFUE number is worth
Furnace efficiency is measured as annual fuel utilization efficiency, and Natural Resources Canada puts gas and propane forced-air furnaces in a band from 90 to 98 per cent. Read that as a heating bill. The whole distance from the bottom of the range to the top is eight points of fuel, and the distance from a mid-range unit to the best one on the sheet is two or three.
NRCan's own figure is that an ENERGY STAR certified gas furnace uses 6 per cent less energy than a standard model on average. That is real money over fifteen winters. It is also smaller than the payback table on a salesperson's tablet usually implies.
The voluntary EnerGuide label on a furnace shows the model type and its AFUE rating, with a pointer marking where that rating falls on a scale of similar models. It takes a second to check that the unit in the quote is where the quote says it is.
The blower is the part you will actually notice
NRCan lists, among the features of an ENERGY STAR certified furnace, high-efficiency blower motors or fans that modify their speed to meet the air distribution needs rather than cycle on and off constantly. That is the sentence worth carrying into a showroom.
A single-stage furnace with a fixed-speed blower runs flat out or not at all: a blast of hot air, then nothing, then a blast. A modulating furnace with a variable-speed motor runs long and low. The second one is quieter, gets the far bedroom closer to what the thermostat thinks the house is doing, and draws less electricity when the fan is not at full tilt. Where one quote is meaningfully higher and the equipment in it modulates, that is usually most of the gap, and it is not decoration.
The exhaust leaves through the wall now, and this is Canada
A condensing furnace pulls so much heat out of its exhaust that what is left will not climb a masonry chimney. It goes out through plastic pipe, normally through a sidewall, a second pipe brings combustion air in, and the water the furnace makes has to reach a drain or a pump.
The Canadian part of that is February. Health Canada's advice on carbon monoxide is to inspect exhaust vents during and after snowstorms to make sure they are not blocked with ice or covered by snow or debris. Where the installer puts the termination therefore matters as much as what it is made of. A vent low on the wall the plow throws snow against, or tucked under a deck, is one you will be clearing in a parka at eleven at night.
Two more questions while the mechanical room is open. If a gas water heater shared the old chimney with the furnace, what does the quote do about it now that the water heater is alone on a flue sized for two appliances? And if there is no floor drain within reach, where is the condensate going?
Who is allowed to connect it
There is no flexibility in this part. In Ontario, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority registers fuels contractors to install, operate and maintain regulated equipment, and a registered contractor is required to ensure the fuels safety technicians it employs on that equipment are properly trained and certified, and to hire the appropriate certificate holders for the type of work being done.
British Columbia hangs it on the permit instead. Technical Safety BC requires a gas installation permit for a licensed contractor installing regulated gas equipment or gas systems, and the qualified gasfitter files the completion notification as the work finishes. Every province runs one or both of those systems.
So there are two questions before you sign: who holds the certificate, and who is pulling the permit. A quote that is cheaper because neither exists is not cheaper.
Electrical is separate again. If the job needs a new circuit, or the panel cannot take what is being added, that is a Licensed Electrical Contractor's work in Ontario and it carries its own permit.
The annual inspection is also how you get to choose
Health Canada's guidance for keeping carbon monoxide out of a house is to keep fuel-burning appliances well maintained and have a professional inspect them at least once a year, or in line with the manufacturer's instructions, and to install at least one carbon monoxide alarm with battery backup where combustion appliances are used.
Safety is the main reason. The second reason is commercial. A technician who tells you in October that the heat exchanger is cracked has handed you three quotes, a choice of equipment and a shoulder-season date. A furnace that quits on a Saturday night in January hands you whatever is on the truck.
Whether this is the last furnace you buy
Worth deciding now rather than in fifteen years, because it is cheapest to answer while the mechanical room is already open. NRCan's position on air-source heat pumps is that most installations need a supplementary heat source to hold indoor temperature on the coldest days — and in a house with gas, the supplementary heat source is the furnace. Pairing the next furnace with a heat pump instead of a conventional air conditioner is an ordinary Canadian arrangement. The equipment you buy this month is either ready for that or in the way of it.
Oil and electric are different questions
Oil sits in a wider band: NRCan puts oil furnace efficiency between 78 and 96 per cent, so the gap between a tired old unit and a new one is far larger than it is on the gas side, and the job carries its own tank, filter and technician certification. An electric furnace has no combustion, no vent and no gas certificate at all, which moves the entire decision onto your electricity rate and what your panel can carry.
What sits under the hourly rate
Job Bank puts heating, ventilation and air conditioning mechanics in Canada between 22.00 and 56.00 CAD an hour, with a median of 37.50, updated 19 November 2025. That is the wage the technician earns. The rate you are billed also carries the truck, the certification, the permit, the warranty paperwork and the call-back when the new furnace throws a code on the coldest night of the year.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 98 per cent furnace worth the extra over a 95?
Rarely on fuel alone. NRCan puts gas and propane forced-air furnaces between 90 and 98 per cent, and an ENERGY STAR model at 6 per cent less energy than a standard one on average, so the top few points are a small slice of a bill. Staging and a variable-speed blower change how the house feels far more.
Why would the new furnace be smaller than the old one?
Because the house has changed since the old one was chosen. Attic insulation, air sealing and new windows all cut what the furnace has to make up. An oversized furnace runs in short bursts, which is loud and still leaves the far rooms cold. Ask whether anyone calculated the heat loss.
Can a new furnace use my chimney?
A condensing one cannot — its exhaust is too cool to rise, so it vents through plastic pipe out a wall. That raises two questions worth asking: where the termination sits, since Health Canada says to check exhaust vents for snow and ice after a storm, and what happens to a gas water heater left on the old flue by itself.
Who is allowed to install a furnace in Canada?
A certified technician working for an authorised contractor. Ontario's TSSA registers fuels contractors and requires them to employ properly trained and certified fuels safety technicians. Technical Safety BC issues the gas installation permit to a licensed contractor, with the gasfitter filing the completion notice. Ask for both, by number.
My furnace is old but it still runs. Should I replace it now?
Let the annual inspection decide it. Health Canada's advice is to have fuel-burning appliances professionally inspected at least once a year, and that visit is what turns a replacement from an emergency into a decision you get to shop.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.
Furnaces — EnerGuide — Natural Resources Canada (accessed September 25, 2026)
Residential furnaces — ENERGY STAR certified products — Natural Resources Canada (accessed September 25, 2026)
Carbon monoxide: Preventing exposure — Health Canada (accessed September 25, 2026)
Contractor registration and certification (fuels) — Technical Standards and Safety Authority (Ontario) (accessed September 25, 2026)
Gas installation permits — Technical Safety BC (accessed September 25, 2026)
Heating and cooling with a heat pump — Natural Resources Canada (accessed September 21, 2026)
About Licensed Electrical Contractors — Electrical Safety Authority (Ontario) (accessed September 21, 2026)
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) mechanic in Canada — wages — Job Bank, Government of Canada (accessed September 25, 2026)
Who wrote and reviewed this
Written by
LokalMatch EditorialReviewed by
LokalMatch Editorial
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