The City of Toronto Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy pays80% of your invoiced cost, up to $6,650 per property, toward a specific and quite short list of flood protection devices.
The Toronto Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy covers 80% of invoiced cost to a maximum of $6,650 per property: up to $1,600 per backwater valve for two devices, $2,250 for a sump pump with alarm, $300 for battery backup, $400 for weeping tile severance and capping, and $500 for a home plumbing assessment. Interior and exterior waterproofing are not covered at all.
Covered, and not covered
That right-hand column is the reason this page exists.
It is common to see "Save up to $6,650" advertised beside basement waterproofing prices. Read carefully and the claim is usually not technically false — the company does install backwater valves too. But the impression it creates, that the City will contribute toward your waterproofing bill, is wrong.
A $12,000 interior drainage system attracts $0. Every dollar of the$6,650 comes from devices.
We have also seen Toronto contractor pages still quoting a $3,400 maximum, which has been out of date since the programme was expanded. If a company cannot keep the headline number current, treat the rest of their subsidy advice with the same caution.
What you can actually claim
| Work | Toronto 2026 range | Subsidy |
|---|---|---|
| Backwater valve with alarm | $2,000 to $4,500 | Up to $1,600 each, max 2 |
| Sump pump with alarm | $650 to $4,000 | Up to $2,250 |
| Battery backup power | $300 to $800 | Up to $300 |
| Weeping tile severance and capping | Varies | Up to $400 |
| Home plumbing assessment | Varies | Up to $500 |
Reaching the full $6,650 requires claiming across most of that list: two valves, a pump, a backup, a severance and an assessment. Most homeowners claim considerably less, usually because nobody mentioned that the plumbing assessment and the weeping tile severance were claimable at all.
What receives nothing
| Work | Toronto 2026 range |
|---|---|
| Full interior drainage system | $8,000 to $15,000 |
| Full exterior perimeter waterproofing | $15,000 to $35,000 |
| Foundation crack repair, per crack | $450 to $1,100 per crack |
| Full weeping tile replacement | $150 to $300 per linear foot |
| Downspout disconnection | Required, but not claimable |
| Basement underpinning | $350 to $800 per linear foot |
Note the downspout disconnection line particularly. Disconnecting your downspouts from the sewer is a prerequisite for eligibility, and it is explicitly not an eligible expense. You pay for it, then you qualify.
Eligibility rules
You must be the registered owner of a single-family, duplex, triplex or fourplex property in Toronto.
Your downspouts must be disconnected from the sewer system, or you must hold a formal exemption. Front yard paved areas must comply with the zoning bylaws. You must have no outstanding taxes or other debts owed to the City.
Your contractor must hold a valid City of Toronto business licence. This is not a formality — an invoice from an unlicensed contractor is not claimable, and you will find that out after the work is done and paid for.
Applications must be submitted within two years of the installation being completed. They are processed first come, first served, and submitting one does not guarantee a subsidy: the programme has a finite annual budget.
Why the programme exists
In July 2024, flash flooding across Toronto and southern Ontario caused over $940 million in insured damage. Sewers surcharged, and basements without backflow protection took sewage through their floor drains.
The City has run the Basement Flooding Protection Program since 2006, completing environmental assessment studies across 67 study areas to identify why particular neighbourhoods flood. The subsidy is the homeowner-facing part of it, and the logic is straightforward: reducing what enters the sewer system is far cheaper for the City than enlarging the sewers.
The buyer's actual sequence
If you are starting from scratch, the order that makes financial sense is this.
Book the home plumbing assessment first — it is claimable up to $500 and it tells you what you actually need before you buy anything.
Then the backwater valve, which is the highest-value protection per dollar for most Toronto homes and addresses the failure mode that caused the 2024 damage.
Then, if your weeping tile still connects to the sewer, the severance and capping — after which you will usually need asump pump for the water that connection used to carry, with the battery backup claimed alongside it.
Only then is it worth discussing waterproofing, which you will be paying for entirely yourself. Realistic figures for that are on thewaterproofing cost page, and if your weeping tile is the underlying problem, the failure modes by era are on weeping tile installation.
Source: City of Toronto, Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program. Amounts verified 31 July 2026 and apply to work completed on or after 12 November 2025. Programme terms change; confirm current amounts with the City before relying on them.