The monthly subscription your buy-Canadian list is missing
- Nathan Postma
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Tariff wars and 51st State threats mean most of us are keeping our shopping and travel north of the border.
But there's an important swap that doesn't make it on boycott lists.
Your gas bill is a subscription to American energy. About 70% of Ontario's natural gas is fracked in the Eastern US (mostly Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia).
If you're in a gas-heated home in Toronto, then your gas bill is likely your household's single largest recurring US purchase. Every time your gas-burning furnace/boiler, stove, or water heater turns on, money flows south to US gas frackers.
Here's a little background, followed by the #1 way to get your home onto Canadian energy.
Who's actually selling that gas?
The bulk it starts in the shale fields of the Eastern US. From there it moves north on two routes. One set of pipelines, Rover and NEXUS, crosses through Michigan into a storage hub near Sarnia called Dawn. The other comes east through New York and crosses at Niagara Falls.
What about the other 30%?
That part comes from Alberta and B.C., moving east on TC Energy's Mainline—it's also mostly fracked. But you can't order Canadian gas over American gas. Everything pools together at Dawn, and Enbridge sends you whatever's in the pipe.
The real swap: heat (and cool!) with made-in-Ontario energy
A cold-climate heat pump heats your home with electricity instead of gas. That’s the key swap:
Most of your home's gas is burned in your furnace or boiler.
Ontario's electricity is mostly made here at home by hydropower at Niagara Falls, nuclear stations, and a growing amount of wind and solar.
A heat pump is like an A/C and furnace in one—it can keep you cozy through a polar vortex and cool through a heat wave.
Cold-climate heat pumps work in century homes and new builds.
There are heat pumps for homes with radiators, homes with ductwork, and homes without ductwork.
The outdoor unit looks just like an A/C.
You don't have to do any underground drilling to get one installed.
And yes, they work great even in Toronto's coldest winters.
Swapping your gas hot water heater for an electric one helps reduce your reliance on American gas, too (our next webinar will get into costs and options).
Two things
There are electricity plants that run on gas in Ontario, but most of the gas Ontario imports from the US isn't making electricity—it's heating homes and commercial buildings. Ontario buildings burn roughly twice as much gas as all of Ontario's power plants put together.
Heat pump units are built overseas. Canadian-owned brands like Moovair do exist. The design/brand is Canadian, but production happens in China in an experienced factory, customized to Master Group’s specs for Canadian winters. So yes, the one-time hardware purchase goes overseas, but the money that really matters is the fuel. A new gas furnace or boiler comes with a 15-to-20-year subscription to the Made-in-the-USA gas that feeds it.
Your next step (it takes two minutes)
We're not asking you to rip out equipment that works. Furnaces and boilers last 15–20 years (15 is the industry-standard replacement timing). When yours burns out, that's your moment to get a cold-climate heat pump installed. (The same logic applies to your other gas appliances, like water heaters: swap them out for electric appliances when they're old.)
The trap is how that replacement moment usually arrives. 85% of furnace or boiler replacements happen as emergency swaps — the furnace dies on a cold night in the middle of January. That’s a stressful time to get your first heat pump installed!
The fix is having a plan: know your options, the rough costs, and who you'd call — before the breakdown.
Our free Your First Heat Pump Guidebook was built to make that switch to Canadian energy simple and stress-free. It has real heat pump prices and current incentives. There's no confusing jargon, and there's nothing for sale in this Guidebook.
Our next webinar will get into the weeds of electric hot water heating. If your gas water heater is getting old, this is the perfect chance to learn about your options from a certified Energy Advisor.
Toronto Home Energy Network helps single-family homeowners in Toronto navigate the switch to heat pumps with expert guides and community support. Join our fun and infrequent newsletter to stay in the loop.
Thanks for reading!
