[2] Reliance's main Ontario competitor, Enercare, has a similar origin as the rental business of Toronto-area utility Consumers' Gas.

[1] In addition to water heater rentals (and sales in some areas), Reliance sells, rents, installs, and maintains furnaces and air conditioners.

The federal Competition Bureau has noted that purchasing a water heater outright "can result in substantial savings over time" compared to rental.

[7] The Competition Bureau filed complaints against Reliance and Direct Energy (then-owner of what is now Enercare) in 2012, alleging both companies engaged in anti-competitive behaviour by providing customers limited locations and time windows if they wished to return their rentals, and charging "unwarranted" cancellation fees.

[17] The company settled its part of the complaint in 2014 by agreeing to make it easier for customers to cancel their rentals and paying a $5 million administrative penalty.