Ontario Renovates in Brantford and Brant County, explained honestly

A forgivable loan, not a grant, and the distinction matters

The City of Brantford and County of Brant deliver Ontario Renovates, which provides assistance as a fully forgivable loan, forgiven over a ten-year period: nothing is repaid as long as you remain the owner and occupy the property for the full term. Sell or move out early and the unforgiven balance comes due. For homeowners planning to stay, it functions like a grant paid out in patience; for anyone eyeing a sale, the math changes completely, and that is the first honest conversation to have. One application per household is permitted.

Who qualifies, and for what

• Location: the City of Brantford or the County of Brant
• Income-tested, with a maximum home value of $350,000
• Eligible repairs: heating systems, chimneys, doors and windows, foundations, roofs, walls, floors and ceilings, electrical systems, plumbing, septic systems and well water, with energy-saving products required where possible
• Accessibility work: ramps, handrails, chair and bath lifts, visual cues for doorbells and fire alarms, and height adjustments to countertops
• Current application deadline: October 31, 2026 for the 2026-2027 funding year

One deliberate omission: we are not publishing a maximum dollar figure, because the City's own page does not state one and the assistance caps under Ontario Renovates are set locally. Third-party sites quote numbers anyway; get yours from the source at 519-759-4150 before you plan around anything you read online, including here.

"This programme is aimed at exactly the projects that keep a house livable: the roof, the furnace, the wiring, the ramp. If your income and home value fit the gates, it can turn a deferred essential repair into a done one. My advice is always the same: call the City, confirm your numbers, and only then design the scope."

Mitch Fraser, owner, Ontario Contracting Co.

How it stacks with everything else

Ontario Renovates targets essential repairs and accessibility, which layers cleanly onto the rest of the money map: provincial energy rebates for insulation and heat pumps, Brantford's flood-prevention grant at 80 percent to $5,000, and the federal accessibility and multigenerational credits at tax time. Accessibility projects in particular can draw on Ontario Renovates and the Home Accessibility Tax Credit for the same renovation.

The programme has a homeownership sibling worth knowing about: the Brantford-Brant Homeownership Program offers renters buying a first home a 5 percent down-payment loan on a purchase of $400,000 or less with household income under $90,000, relevant if the renovation conversation is really a buy-a-fixer-upper conversation.

The paperwork standard still applies

Programme or no programme, the work itself deserves the full protection stack: a written contract per the clause-by-clause contract checklist, a contractor verified through the public registries, and permits where the scope triggers them. Funded work is still work.