Where you run a boiler company shapes almost every strategic choice: how big your addressable market is, which fuel your customers burn, which programs push demand toward or away from boilers, and which safety authority licenses your work. This hub groups Canada into five regions and links to a page for each province and for the territories. Each page applies the same lens: what an owner of a boiler business should know before deciding where to grow.
The figures come from Statistics Canada's primary heating systems table for 2023, which reports the share of households whose main heating system is a hot-water or steam boiler. It's survey data, so read the numbers as approximate and compare regions rather than counting homes.
- YTYukon
- NTNorthwest Territories
- NUNunavut
- NLNewfoundland and Labrador
- BCBritish Columbia
- ABAlberta
- SKSaskatchewan
- MBManitoba
- ONOntario
- QCQuebec
- PEPrince Edward Island
- NBNew Brunswick
- NSNova Scotia
West Coast: British Columbia
BC is a natural boiler market. About 9% of BC households reported a boiler as their primary heating system in 2023, and the Vancouver area was higher at about 12%. Natural gas fuelled around 64% of the province's boiler homes, so condensing replacements, combi conversions and annual combustion servicing are the core of the work.
It is also the market where Ali built GasBoilers.ca, a gas-boiler division for CANRO Heat serving 26+ BC communities. Read the British Columbia page for the regional detail, including how the mild coast and the colder Interior differ.
Prairies: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
The Prairies are furnace country, but boilers hold a meaningful niche. Saskatchewan led the region at about 10% of households in 2023, with Saskatoon near 12%. Alberta and Manitoba were both around 7%.
In Alberta and Saskatchewan, roughly half of boiler homes ran on natural gas. Saskatchewan also stands out for a utility rebate that names boilers and combi boilers specifically. Each province has its own pressure-equipment authority. See the pages for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Central Canada: Ontario and Quebec
Ontario and Quebec hold the most households, but their boiler shares differ sharply. Ontario was about 7% in 2023, with Toronto near 8%; Quebec was about 4%, with Montréal around 6%.
Fuel splits the two as well. Natural gas fuelled around 45% of Ontario's boiler homes, with electric boilers at about 14%. In Quebec, electric boilers made up roughly 53% of boiler homes and gas about 33%. Quebec also brings French-language obligations for commercial communication. Read the Ontario and Quebec pages.
Atlantic Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador
Atlantic Canada has the densest boiler market by share and the most exposure to conversion programs. Nova Scotia and PEI each reported about 16% of households on boilers in 2023, and Halifax was around 20%. Oil fuelled most reported boiler homes: about 65% in Nova Scotia, 78% in PEI and 76% in Newfoundland and Labrador. New Brunswick's boiler figure was suppressed in 2023.
For an oil-boiler specialist, that's both a large installed base and a market where heat pumps are gaining fast: heat pumps were the primary system for about 36% of PEI households and 25% of Nova Scotia households. The pages for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador go further.
The North: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
The territories have long, extreme heating seasons, small and scattered populations, and logistics that dominate every service decision. National survey data on heating systems doesn't cover them, so the territories page sticks to what we could verify: the authorities responsible for boilers and pressure vessels, and the business realities of serving remote communities.
How to use these pages
Start with the region you already serve, and check whether your current offer matches the local fuel mix. Then look at any region you're considering for expansion. The provincial demand mapping service combines this public picture with your own job records. Every program mentioned on these pages is dated as of October 2026; confirm current terms with the administrator before you put a figure in an ad. Questions? Contact Ali.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with boiler companies in every province?
Yes. Engagements run in person or by video call, phone, text, email and shared documents, so an owner in St. John's gets the same access to Ali as one in Kelowna.
Which province has the most boiler homes?
By share of households, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were highest among the provinces in Statistics Canada's 2023 figures, at about 16% each. By raw count, the larger provinces naturally hold more boiler homes even at lower shares.
Why don't the territories have boiler statistics here?
The Statistics Canada table we use doesn't report the territories. The territories page covers what we could verify about regulators and the market without inventing figures.
Do you give advice on provincial boiler regulations?
No. We name and link the safety authorities so you know where to go, but compliance questions belong with them. Our work is business and marketing consulting only.