Winnipeg installers advertise radon systems from about $1,500 to $3,000. If your basement test came back high and that range made you wince, you should know that Manitoba has exactly one radon mitigation grant and one loan, and the order you do things in decides whether you can use either of them.
The grant is Lungs Matter, run in this province by the Manitoba Lung Association. It pays up to $1,500 toward a system. The loan is Manitoba Hydro’s Home Energy Efficiency Loan, which covers radon mitigation up to $5,000 and goes on your energy bill.
Hardly anyone uses them. The Made-in-Manitoba Radon Action Plan says only 18 Manitoba households used Lungs Matter funds in 2024, and that Hydro financed an average of about seven mitigation systems a year over the last decade. If you qualify, you are not fighting a crowd, though the Canadian Lung Association does warn that funding is limited.
One more thing before the details. We’re an advertising service. We connect you with independent radon professionals certified through C-NRPP; we are not certified ourselves and we don’t test or install.
Radon mitigation grants and loans in Manitoba at a glance
Both programs lean on the same two things: a proper long-term test and a C-NRPP certified professional. Here’s how they line up.
| Lungs Matter (Manitoba Lung Association) | Manitoba Hydro Home Energy Efficiency Loan | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A grant: a payment toward the cost of mitigation | A loan, repaid on your energy bill |
| Amount | Up to $1,500 | Up to $5,000 for radon mitigation |
| Cost to you | Nothing to repay | 6.2% a year (O.A.C.) over 5 years, no down payment |
| Who qualifies | Manitoba residents in a low- to moderate-income household, or diagnosed with lung cancer | No income test |
| Test needed | Long-term 90-day C-NRPP approved test kit | Not listed on the Hydro page we read; ask Hydro |
| Who does the work | A radon mitigation professional (national program: C-NRPP quote required) | Must be a C-NRPP certified contractor |
| Catch | Limited funding; priority to low-income households; not for work already done (national program rule) | Counts toward Hydro’s $12,500 loan limit per residence |
Figures are from the Manitoba Lung Association, the Canadian Lung Association and Manitoba Hydro, in Canadian dollars. Programs change, so check each one’s own page before you commit to anything.
If you don’t have a test result yet, stop here and test first. Neither program starts without one. A long-term kit costs $70.00 before tax through HomeRadonTest.ca, and the Manitoba government puts kits at between $50 and $100. Call (204) 555-0173 and we’ll put you in touch with a certified measurement professional, or use the contact form. Our radon testing page covers the basics.
Lungs Matter: the one radon mitigation grant in Manitoba
The Manitoba Lung Association says it plainly: “Lungs Matter is the only radon mitigation grant program offered in Manitoba.” It pays up to $1,500 toward mitigation done by a radon mitigation professional.
Two groups qualify in Manitoba. The first is households with low to moderate income, with priority going to low-income households. The second is anyone diagnosed with lung cancer, regardless of income.
The national version, run by the Canadian Lung Association, spells out the paperwork. You need a CRA Notice of Assessment showing household income below the provincial median. You need a long-term result of at least 90 days from a C-NRPP certified test kit, reading above 200 Bq/m3. And you need a quote from a C-NRPP certified mitigation professional.
A word on that unit. Bq/m3 means becquerels per cubic metre, a measure of how much radioactive decay is happening in a given volume of air. Health Canada’s guideline is 200 Bq/m3, about 5.4 pCi/L if you’re comparing with US numbers. It is a guideline, not a law: nothing in Manitoba requires you to test or fix anything. Above 200, Health Canada recommends corrective action within a year.
The Manitoba Lung Association assesses applications monthly. Full details are on its Lungs Matter page.
A St. Vital bungalow, worked through
Picture a 1962 bungalow in St. Vital with a finished basement and a kid’s bedroom down there. The household income is below the Manitoba median. They borrowed a monitor from the Winnipeg Public Library over the winter, saw numbers they didn’t like, and now want to do this properly.
The library monitor doesn’t count. The Manitoba Lung Association says homeowner-level digital monitors don’t qualify for the grant. So the first real step is a 90-day kit, $70.00 before tax, placed in the basement bedroom at least 30 cm off the floor and 30 cm from the walls.
Say it comes back at 450 Bq/m3. Next comes a quote from a C-NRPP mitigation professional. Winnipeg installers advertise systems from about $1,500 to $3,000, but only someone who has looked at this slab, this sump and this layout can put a number on this house. If the quote landed at $3,000 and the full $1,500 came through, the family would carry $1,500 plus tax. Then they apply, wait for the decision, and only then book the install.
Manitoba Hydro’s loan: radon mitigation financing without an income test
The Home Energy Efficiency Loan is the option for everyone who earns too much for Lungs Matter. Manitoba Hydro lends up to $5,000 for radon mitigation over 5 years at 6.2% a year, on approved credit. Payments go on your energy bill. There’s no down payment and no income threshold.
The one hard rule: the mitigation has to be done by a C-NRPP certified contractor. A handyman’s system, or one you put in yourself, won’t qualify. The loan also counts toward Hydro’s limit of $12,500 per residence, so if you’ve already financed a furnace or insulation through the same program, check how much room is left.
A loan is still debt. At 6.2% you’ll pay more than the sticker price over five years. Your contractor or Hydro can show you the monthly figure for your actual quote, and it’s worth seeing it in writing before you sign.
A 2015 Winnipeg build with a capped pipe
Now take a 2015 house in a newer Winnipeg subdivision. Somewhere in the basement there’s a capped pipe with a label on it: the radon rough-in the building code has required since Manitoba adopted it on 1 April 2011. The owners assumed that meant the house was handled. Their 90-day test came back well over 200.
A rough-in is a pipe, not a system. The National Building Code’s own wording is that “the depressurization rough-in does not actively reduce radon levels”. A fan has to be added and vented outside before it does anything. Whether this particular pipe is usable is a site question; a 2013 study of Winnipeg Parade of Homes houses found rough-ins in all but one, but almost half were in inaccessible locations.
This household is over the income line, so Lungs Matter is out unless someone has a lung cancer diagnosis. The Hydro loan is in. A C-NRPP professional looks at the rough-in, quotes the job, and the owners decide whether to pay cash or put it on the energy bill. Either way, they retest after the install. Our page on how mitigation works explains what goes into the job.
If your result is already over 200, get a quote from a certified radon professional. Call (204) 555-0173 and we’ll put you in touch with an independent C-NRPP mitigation professional whose quote meets what both programs ask for. Or send us the contact form with your result and your town.
The order that keeps you eligible for Manitoba radon funding
Most people who miss out on help do it by getting the steps in the wrong order. Here’s the sequence that keeps both doors open.
- Test with a long-term kit. At least 90 days, ideally in the heating season, in the lowest level you actually live in. Health Canada’s minimum is 91 days; anything shorter should be repeated. Our long-term vs short-term test guide explains why a quick reading isn’t enough.
- Check that everyone is C-NRPP certified. Measurement and mitigation are separate certifications. You can confirm a professional in C-NRPP’s online directory. Our explainer on C-NRPP certification walks through it.
- Get the quote in writing. Both programs want to see one.
- Apply before any work starts. The Canadian Lung Association says Lungs Matter isn’t available for mitigations already completed.
- Book the install once the money is sorted.
- Retest afterwards. Health Canada says to test again after mitigation. A system that isn’t checked is a guess.
Why bother with all this? Health Canada calls radon the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and estimates it’s behind more than 3,000 lung cancer deaths in Canada each year (Health Canada, Radon: What you need to know). That’s the reason to test. It isn’t a reason to panic, and it isn’t a reason to skip the paperwork that could save you $1,500.
A few things will not help. Opening windows or running a basement fan is not a fix, and there’s no grant for either. Neither is a quote from someone who can’t show a C-NRPP certification, because neither program will pay for their work.
In Regina or Saskatoon? What Saskatchewan homeowners can use
Most of this article is about Manitoba, but plenty of readers are across the border, so here’s the Saskatchewan picture. It’s thinner.
The national Lungs Matter program from the Canadian Lung Association is open to Saskatchewan residents on the same terms: household income below the provincial median, a 90-day C-NRPP test above 200 Bq/m3, a C-NRPP quote, and no work already done. Lung Saskatchewan has offered its own reimbursement in the past; that program is paused for now, so check its site for news before you plan around it.
The Saskatchewan Home Renovation Tax Credit is 10.5% on up to $4,000 of eligible expenses, which works out to savings of up to $420 (seniors up to $525 on $5,000). Expenses must be from 1 October 2024 onward, and only the amount above a $1,000 base counts. The government’s list doesn’t name radon, but Lung Saskatchewan says radon mitigation counts as an eligible expense; confirm with CRA before you rely on it. We cover the details in our Saskatchewan tax credit article.
A Regina rec room with a library monitor
Picture a Regina family who borrowed one of the Regina Public Library’s 30 radon kits for its three-week loan. The monitor in the basement rec room kept reading around 480 Bq/m3. That’s a strong reason to act, and not surprising in a city where 46.6% of the Regina homes tested in the 2024 Cross-Canada survey were at or above 200.
It’s still a screening number. For national Lungs Matter they need a 90-day C-NRPP kit result, then a C-NRPP quote. For price context, a Regina installer quotes $2,500 to $3,500, with crawl spaces or multiple suction points costing more. If they qualify on income, the grant comes off that. If they don’t, the provincial tax credit may take a little off at tax time.
There is currently no federal radon tax credit that we could find, for either province.
Not sure which situation you’re in? Test first if you have no result; get a certified quote if you do. Call (204) 555-0173 or use the form, and we’ll put you in touch with an independent C-NRPP professional in Manitoba or Saskatchewan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a radon mitigation grant in Manitoba for every homeowner?
No. Lungs Matter is for low- to moderate-income households, or anyone diagnosed with lung cancer, and it pays up to $1,500. If you earn more than that, the Manitoba Hydro Home Energy Efficiency Loan has no income test and lends up to $5,000 for radon mitigation.
Can I apply with a result from a library radon monitor?
Not for Lungs Matter. The Manitoba Lung Association says homeowner-level digital monitors don’t qualify, and the grant needs a long-term 90-day C-NRPP approved test kit. A library monitor is still useful for deciding whether to test properly.
Can I use Lungs Matter and the Manitoba Hydro loan together?
We haven’t found a rule either way on either program’s pages. Ask the Manitoba Lung Association and Manitoba Hydro directly before you sign a contract. Keep in mind the grant can’t be used for work that’s already been done, so apply before the install.
Is there a federal grant or tax credit for radon mitigation?
There is currently no federal radon tax credit that we could find. In Canada, the help that exists runs through lung associations, Manitoba Hydro and, in Saskatchewan, the provincial Home Renovation Tax Credit. Check each program’s own page, because terms and funding change.