Last week, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate
Change ("MOECC")
posted to the Environmental Registry its proposed approach to
establishing a cap and trade regime in the province. Preferred and
considered options for such a regime were are outlined in
a "Cap and Trade Program Design Options" document, upon
which the MOECC is accepting comments until December 16, 2015.
The proposed program follows Ontario's announcement,
from April 2015, to join Quebec and California in implementing an
inter-jurisdictional cap and trade program aimed at limiting
greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions. The
MOECC anticipates releasing a draft regulatory proposal
in early 2016.
The proposed system would begin in January 2017, and
the initial (2017) cap would both align with 2017 emissions
estimates and be designed induce a decline in GHG emission of 3.7 %
annually, making it the primary means through which Ontario will
meet its 2020 target of reducing emission levels by
