Canada And Most Provinces Agree To Pan-Canadian Framework On Clean Growth And Climate Change

On December 9, 2016, the Government of Canada and most Canadian provinces adopted the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The Framework is set to incorporate a price on carbon in every Canadian jurisdiction starting at $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2018. This price on carbon will then rise by $10 per year to $50 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2022. Under the Framework, each province must price carbon by 2018 using a mechanism of its choice, failing which the federal government will do so on the province's behalf.

The Framework was first discussed at the First Ministers' meeting in March 2016 as a plan to meet Canada's commitments made at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. However, this meeting did not produce a consensus on what mechanism(s) the provinces would use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.