In 2016, the federal government tabled a national price on carbon, expected to start with a $10 per tonne fee in 2018, with increases to $50 a tonne by 2022. Provinces and territories were given flexibility to develop their own programs by last September and show how these programs will reach the federal target. If not, Ottawa would top up or put into force their own plan held to a federal standard. On January 15, 2018, with four provincial strategies underway (British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec), Ottawa did just that with a draft policy, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, and the regulatory framework to implement it.

The Act supports Canada’s international Paris Agreement target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. The bill is expected to be introduced into Parliament this spring and passed in the fall. Provinces and territories planning to adopt the federal system are to confirm their use by March 30, 2018. The four provinces with existing systems have until September 1, 2018 to confirm how their systems meet federal standards. After reviewing each system, Ottawa will implement this legislation on January 1, 2019, where no carbon pricing system meets the federal benchmark.

To read more, visit the technical paper for the Act at https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/technical-paper-federal-carbon-pricing-backstop.html

Canada’s Pan-Canadian Framework commits to pricing carbon pollution by 2018. Pricing is based on a rate schedule for different global warming potentials based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s standards. Applying carbon pricing to a broad set of emission sources shows national progress on adaptation and climate response to reach Canada’s pledge to the Paris Agreement. It is an important strategy.

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Comments on the regulatory framework are welcome until April 9, 2018, at
Web: ec.tarificationducarbone-carbonpricing.ec@canada.ca.
This legislation is published by both
The Honourable Catherine McKenna, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change and The Honourable William Francis Morneau, P.C., M.P. Minister of Finance
Email: bill.morneau@canada.ca
Tel: 613-992-1377
Mail: The Honourable William Francis Morneau, Department of Finance Canada, 90 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G5