Rain Ready Ottawa is a City of Ottawa program that helps homeowners manage rainwater on their own property. It exists because studies showed that actions on private property — redirecting downspouts, putting in rain gardens, letting driveways soak instead of shed — are an effective way to manage stormwater in the parts of the city where the system is under pressure.
For anyone planning driveway work, it is the most consequential thing in this whole site: it can pay for a large share of the job.
What it pays
| Practice | Maximum rebate |
|---|---|
| Permeable pavements | Up to $5,000 |
| Rain garden installation | Up to $2,500 |
| Soakaway pit installation | Up to $2,500 |
| Downspout redirection | Up to $1,000 |
| Certified landscape design | $500 |
If the cost of the work comes to less than the available rebate, the City rebates the lesser of the two amounts. The City also rebates only up to the maximum available under the program as at the date it receives your application.
Who is eligible
To qualify you must be located in a Priority Stormwater Retrofit Area, and satisfy one of these four routes:
- Have completed a Rain Ready Ottawa home assessment, or
- Be working with a certified Fusion Landscape Professional, or
- For a permeable pavement project, be working with a certified Concrete Masonry and Hardscape Professional, or
- Have completed the relevant Rain Ready Ottawa eLearning courses.
That third option is the useful one for a paving job. If your contractor holds the Concrete Masonry and Hardscape Professional certification, you can qualify for a permeable pavement rebate without booking a home assessment first — which takes a step and a wait out of the process.
The Priority Stormwater Retrofit Areas are specific parts of the city, drawn by drainage catchment rather than by neighbourhood name or postal code. This is why you cannot reason from your street: check the address.
Run our eligibility pre-check →
The order of operations, which matters
It is not retroactive. Your application has to be submitted and approved before construction starts. Work already done, or invoices predating the program approval date, are not eligible. Every year somebody builds first and asks second.
It is first-come, first-served. Rebates are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis for eligible households, so the funding for a given year can run out. Applying early in the season matters.
- Check that your address is in an eligible area.
- Pick your qualifying route — home assessment, eLearning, a Fusion Landscape Professional, or a Concrete Masonry and Hardscape Professional for permeable paving.
- Get the project designed and quoted so you know what you are applying for.
- Apply through the City's portal and get approved. Before any construction. This is the step people skip.
- Secure the permits you need — including an access permit if the work touches the right of way, and Ontario One Call locates before digging. Failing to obtain necessary permits and approvals voids the application and any rebate.
- Build it.
- Claim, with invoices paid in full.
A permeable driveway in the right of way still needs an access permit if you are constructing or modifying the access, and the rebate terms require you to secure all necessary permits and approvals. The rebate does not replace the permit; it sits on top of it. Access permit guide →
Things worth knowing from the terms
- All invoices associated with the application and the work must be paid in full before you submit the application to claim.
- You are solely responsible for all costs of the work. The rebate is a reimbursement, not a payment up front, so you need the cash flow.
- The City does not guarantee the effectiveness of the work and is not responsible for future failure, including from improper installation. Which is an argument for choosing the installer on competence rather than price.
- The City may ask to inspect, and requires you to keep proper books and invoices available for audit for four years.
- The City may document supported projects and use them promotionally, including signage at your property.
Our part in this
We are a paving contractor. We do not administer the rebate, cannot approve an application and cannot promise you will receive anything. What we do is design and build the permeable work, tell you which qualifying route is quickest for your situation, and give you the quote and invoices the application needs. The City's Rain Ready Ottawa pages and applicant guide are the authority on everything else — read them before you apply.
Get the permeable work quoted
We'll price it, tell you how it compares to a conventional driveway, and flag which qualifying route saves you a step.