UPDATE: Feds To Impose National Minimum Carbon Price

All Canadian jurisdictions will have carbon pricing in place by 2018 at a minimum of $10 per tonne of CO2 emissions. Earlier this week, the federal government released details of a national minimum carbon price. The government had previously announced that it would impose a national minimum carbon price, but had not shared what that price would be. The federal minimum will increase by $10 each year to reach $50 per tonne by 2022.

Provinces and territories will have a choice of how to implement pricing – carbon tax or cap and trade. However, any provincial program will have to meet the federal minimum pricing. If a province or territory fails to implement a program by 2018, the federal government will impose its pricing. Revenues from the federally-imposed pricing will stay in the province or territory and it will be up to those governments to decide how to spend it.