Toronto Hydro pilot enabling adoption of heat pump technologies
With Ontario’s electricity demand expected to grow by 75 per cent by 2050, utilities are actively seeking ways to enable electrification without overburdening the grid. One such emerging solution, smart load management, is at the heart of Toronto Hydro’s new Multiplex PowerPlay pilot program, which was announced during the recent CMPX show in Toronto.
While the pilot program will be limited to six small-scale residential developments in Ontario’s capital city, it signals a structural shift in how electrified buildings will be designed, installed and managed in Canada’s largest urban market.
The pilot will fund up to six multiplex housing projects, each eligible for as much as $50,000, to deploy smart energy load management systems. These systems allow buildings to support high-demand technologies like heat pumps and EV chargers without requiring costly electrical service upgrades.
One of the barriers facing building retrofits, especially in multiplex applications, is electrical capacity. Projects that include multiple suites often trigger costly and complicated upgrades to 400-Amp service. In 2025 alone, Toronto Hydro received just over 100 service connection upgrade requests for multiplex buildings looking to get 400-Amp service upgrades. These upgrades can create project delays and add tens of thousands of dollars to the budget for a developer. Toronto Hydro’s pilot directly targets this bottleneck.
By using smart load management to cap and balance total building demand, the system allows HVACR contractors to install heat pumps alongside EV chargers and other electric appliances in a system designed to stay within existing electrical limits, rather than requiring a panel or service upgrade, removing one of the most common friction points in electrification projects.
“Toronto has always been a place where innovation takes root. A big part of readying ourselves for our energy future is taking advantage of exciting energy–saving technologies today, and the Multiplex PowerPlay Pilot is helping us do exactly that,” stated Dan Smart, interim chief operating officer at Toronto Hydro. “By working with builders to manage energy in new and different ways, this frees up opportunities for exploring additional ways of using power.”
The pilot will accept up to six new or existing multiplex developments in the M postal code area that are focused on electrification. Projects plans must include technologies like electric heat pumps and EV chargers in the design, and have plans that would typically require a 400-Amp service upgrade. Contractors and developers have until May 31, 2026, to apply for the program.
www.torontohydro.com/powerplayprogram
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