We hear the same sentence a few times a week: but it is under warranty. It usually is, for the part. The labour to take the failed part out and put the new one in is a separate promise, written by the company that installed your system, and it is normally much shorter than the parts term. This guide explains what an HVAC labour warranty covers in Ontario, how long yours is likely to run, and what Ontario rules let you insist goes on the quote. It sits under our main air conditioner warranty guide, which covers what the manufacturer excludes.

Why does the manufacturer's warranty not cover labour?

Because the manufacturer did not install your system and does not employ the technician who arrives at your door. Its warranty is a promise about the product: if a covered part fails from a defect inside the term, the maker supplies a replacement part. Carrier's Canadian homeowner FAQ says it in one line: "Labor is provided by the dealer/contractor for a period of time as determined by them."

That single sentence is the whole reason a covered repair still produces an invoice. Two companies are involved, they wrote two different documents, and only one of them is in your basement.

What does an HVAC labour warranty actually cover?

An HVAC labour warranty is the installing company's commitment that if a covered part fails inside the labour term, it will send a technician and not bill you for the time to replace it. What it does not cover is where the surprises live, and refrigerant is the most common one.

Ours is written on the quote, alongside the parts term, before you sign anything. Ask us for our HVAC labour warranty in writing and ask every other contractor you are considering for theirs the same way, because a labour term that is only spoken about is not a labour term. The refrigerant exclusion is explained in full on our air conditioner warranty guide, and it is worth reading before a cooling repair rather than after one.

How long is a typical HVAC labour warranty in Ontario?

There is no legislated minimum HVAC labour warranty in Ontario, so one to two years from the installation date is simply what the market settled on. Some contractors offer longer terms as a selling feature, some charge extra for them, and a few include none at all. The manufacturer's parts term runs far longer, and the gap between the two is the part of the deal almost nobody reads.

Read the Carrier rows together and the shape of the decision appears. Registering the unit inside 90 days is worth five years of parts cover, and it is free. Where a dealer participates in Carrier's Consumer Choice programme, you can trade five of those parts years for three years of labour instead, which is the better trade for most homeowners because labour is the line that actually gets billed.

Manufacturer warranty, labour warranty, extended warranty or protection plan?

There are four separate things that can pay for an HVAC repair in Ontario, and homeowners routinely believe they have one when they have another. Two arrive with the equipment, and two have to be bought.

What does Ontario law actually give you on a labour warranty?

Ontario sets no minimum HVAC labour warranty term, but it does control how the term reaches you: any home repair or renovation contract worth more than $50 CAD must be in writing, and Consumer Protection Ontario states that the contract has to include a description of the warranties. That turns "get it in writing" from advice into a requirement on the contractor, and it is the single most useful thing on this page.

One correction is worth making, because it circulates widely in Ontario. A well-read contractor article tells homeowners that Tarion coverage does not extend to HVAC equipment. Tarion's own coverage page says the two year warranty "Covers defects in work or materials in the electrical, plumbing and heating delivery and distribution systems", and the one year warranty requires the home to be free from defects in material.

That coverage runs against the builder of a new home, not against the contractor who sold you a replacement furnace years later, so it will not help most readers. If your house is under seven years old and the original system is failing, it is worth a call to Tarion before it is worth a call to us.

Where this applies. Every rule in the table above is provincial, so an HVAC labour warranty works the same way in Mississauga, Brampton, Etobicoke, Milton, Georgetown, Caledon and Bolton. What changes by address is who you escalate to. Consumer Protection Ontario takes complaints province wide, TSSA registration is checked on one provincial registry, and Tarion claims run through the builder named on your new home enrolment, which is why two neighbours in the same subdivision can get different answers from the same set of rules.

Is an extended HVAC warranty worth it?

An extended warranty is worth considering when the equipment has a long parts term and a short HVAC labour warranty, which describes almost every furnace, air conditioner and heat pump sold in Ontario. The value is entirely in the detail, so five questions decide it before the price does.

• Who backs it. A manufacturer plan or a third party administrator survives the contractor closing. A contractor's own promise may not.
• Whether it covers labour, parts or both, and whether refrigerant and recovery are named as included rather than left out.
• Whether annual maintenance is required, and whether you have to produce the invoices to prove it.
• Whether it transfers if you sell the house, and whether a fee applies.
• The claim process. Who you telephone at 8 pm in February, and who pays the technician on the night.

Navien Canada links to an optional extended warranty through a third party administrator on its own site. We have not read those terms, so we make no claim about them here. If you are considering one, get the contract before you buy it, not after.

How is a protection plan different from an HVAC labour warranty?

A protection plan is a subscription rather than a one time purchase, and it bundles annual maintenance with repair coverage instead of only paying out when something breaks. Reliance Home Comfort and the other large Ontario providers run the same model at larger scale, and if you want one company covering water heater, furnace and air conditioner on a single account, they do that better than we do. That is a real advantage and worth pricing against ours.

Our own protection plans run Bronze, Silver and Gold on heating, cooling or both. Every tier includes an annual inspection with a gas and carbon monoxide safety check, live support around the clock, and no dispatch, truck or diagnostic fees. Silver covers all parts and labour up to $750 CAD a year on repairs to the covered system, Gold up to $1,000 CAD a year with no deductible, and the combined Gold plan raises that ceiling to $1,500 CAD across furnace and air conditioner together.

The possible downside, plainly: Gold Heating at $28.99 CAD a month costs $347.88 CAD a year against a $1,000 CAD annual repair ceiling, and a plan builds no equity. If your system is two years old and still inside both its parts term and its labour term, you are mostly buying the annual inspection, and the honest advice is Bronze or nothing until the labour term lapses. The plans earn their keep in years three to twelve, when the part is still covered and the labour is not.

What if the company that installed my system has closed?

Your manufacturer parts warranty survives, because it belongs to the equipment rather than to the installer, and any properly licensed dealer for that brand can process the parts claim. The HVAC labour warranty normally does not survive, because it was a promise from a company that no longer exists. That is the strongest argument for choosing a manufacturer-backed labour option or a third party administered extended warranty on a large purchase, rather than relying on the installer still trading in year six.

Bring the original invoice, the warranty certificate and the model and serial numbers to whoever you call next. Carrier publishes a warranty lookup tool that will confirm the term from the serial number. For gas equipment, confirm that the new company is a TSSA-registered fuels contractor before booking, because unregistered work can cost you the parts warranty as well. Our own furnace repair service and air conditioner repair service both process manufacturer parts claims on brands we carry.

Does a labour warranty transfer when I sell my house?

Usually not, and you have to ask rather than assume. Most contractor HVAC labour warranties are written to the original purchaser, and Carrier states that its registered coverage runs "to the original owner on eligible equipment for eligible residential applications", with the length varying depending on whether you are the original or a subsequent owner. If you are buying a house, ask the seller for the equipment invoices, the warranty certificates and the maintenance records, then check the serial number against the manufacturer's lookup tool rather than trusting the listing.

What should I ask before signing an HVAC quote in Ontario?

Ask these nine questions and get the answers written on the quote itself, not promised in conversation, because Ontario's rules already entitle you to have the warranties described in the contract.

1. How long is your labour warranty, and what does it exclude? Get the number and the exclusions in the same sentence.
2. How long is the manufacturer parts warranty, does it require registration, and who registers it? On Carrier equipment the deadline is 90 days and the difference is five years against ten.
3. Is there a manufacturer labour option, and are you enrolled? Carrier's Consumer Choice programme only exists where the dealer has elected to participate.
4. Does the labour warranty cover diagnostics, return trips and refrigerant? Refrigerant is the usual exclusion.
5. Is the warranty tied to me or to the house? Carrier's stated coverage runs to the original owner.
6. Are you a TSSA-registered fuels contractor, and what is the registration number? Ours is FS R0076624709, and you can check any contractor on the TSSA public registry.
7. What maintenance do you require to keep the labour warranty valid? Skipped maintenance is a common reason a claim is refused.
8. What is the claim process out of hours? Ask what happens at 8 pm on a February Sunday, specifically.
9. Do you offer a protection plan, and what does it cost after year one? The renewal price matters more than the introductory one.

Our guide on what to look for when choosing an HVAC repair company covers the broader vetting questions, and the case for a maintenance plan sets out what the annual inspection is actually for.

Frequently asked questions

Does an HVAC warranty cover labour in Ontario?

Usually not. The manufacturer's warranty normally covers replacement parts only, and the labour to fit them comes from the installing contractor's own HVAC labour warranty, typically one to two years from the installation date. After that term ends, labour is paid out of pocket unless you hold an extended warranty or a protection plan.

Is there a legal minimum labour warranty in Ontario?

No minimum HVAC labour warranty term is set in Ontario. What Ontario does require is that a home repair contract worth more than $50 CAD be in writing and that it describe the warranties, so the term you were promised has to appear on the paperwork. If a labour term is not written on the quote or invoice, assume it does not exist.

Do any HVAC manufacturers include labour in the warranty?

Some do, briefly. Navien Canada includes one year of labour on residential NPE-A2 tankless units alongside five years of parts. Carrier offers a five year parts plus three year labour option in place of its ten year parts term, chosen within 90 days of installation and only where the installing dealer participates in its Consumer Choice programme.

What is the difference between an extended warranty and a protection plan?

An extended warranty is a one time purchase that lengthens repair coverage past the standard terms. A protection plan is a monthly subscription that usually adds an annual maintenance inspection and waives dispatch and diagnostic fees, with repair coverage capped at a yearly limit. One pays when something breaks; the other also pays to keep it from breaking.

Who pays for refrigerant on a warranty repair?

The homeowner, in almost every case. Refrigerant and the recovery work around it are named exclusions in most manufacturer warranties and most contractor labour warranties, so a covered coil or compressor replacement still produces an invoice. Check whether your protection plan agreement includes it, because that is the one place it sometimes is included.

Can another contractor do warranty work on my system?

For the manufacturer's parts warranty, yes, provided they are a dealer for that brand and properly licensed, and TSSA-registered for gas equipment. For the original installer's HVAC labour warranty, normally no: that promise was made by one company and does not follow the equipment to anyone else.

Does skipping annual maintenance void the HVAC labour warranty?

It can. Most HVAC labour warranties and protection plans exclude failures caused by neglect, and some require documented proof of annual service before they will settle a claim. Keep the maintenance invoices with the original installation paperwork, because the invoice is the proof, not your memory of the visit.

Final verdict

Treat the parts term and the HVAC labour warranty as two separate numbers, and get the second one written on the quote before you sign, because Ontario's rules already say it belongs there. Register the equipment inside 90 days, keep the maintenance invoices, and decide on extended cover or a protection plan while the choice is still open rather than on the day the compressor stops. If a contractor will not put that term in writing, that answer is itself the answer.

Sources and references

1. Carrier Canada, homeowner FAQ. Labour is provided by the dealer or contractor for a period they determine; coverage length varies by original or subsequent owner. Read August 27, 2026.
2. Carrier Canada, 26TPA8 air conditioner. Ten year parts on timely registration, five years if not registered within 90 days, and a five year parts plus three year labour Consumer Choice alternative. Read August 27, 2026.
3. Carrier Canada, 59TP6 gas furnace. Ten year parts and lifetime heat exchanger on timely registration, reduced to five and twenty years otherwise. Read August 27, 2026.
4. Carrier Canada, warranty lookup by serial number.
5. Navien Canada, NPE-A2 warranty. Residential standard or controlled recirculation: one year labour, five years parts, fifteen years heat exchanger. Read August 27, 2026.
6. Consumer Protection Ontario, your rights when starting home renovations or repairs. Written contract over $50 CAD, warranty descriptions in the contract, the 10 per cent estimate rule and the 10 calendar day cooling off period. Read August 27, 2026.
7. Technical Standards and Safety Authority, be fuels wise. Fuel-fired appliances must be maintained by TSSA-registered contractors employing certified gas technicians. Read August 27, 2026.
8. Tarion, coverage for freehold, contract and condominium homes. The two year warranty covers defects in work or materials in the electrical, plumbing and heating delivery and distribution systems. Read August 27, 2026.
9. Aire One Peel protection plans. Tier names, monthly prices, annual repair limits and the no dispatch, truck or diagnostic fees term. Read August 27, 2026.
10. AtlasCare, what most people do not know about HVAC warranties. Cited for its published five year parts and labour warranty, and as the source of the Tarion claim corrected above. Read August 27, 2026.