Ontario Proposes Greenhouse Gas Emission Performance Standards

Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has announced the next step in developing a provincial plan to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In particular, details have now been released on the performance standards which were first proposed in November 2018 in the Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan.¹

What you need to know

• The proposed industrial emission performance standards (EPS) are intended to substitute for the federal output-based pricing system (OBPS) under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA).
• Ontario plans to implement the EPS by summer 2019, covering GHG emissions as of January 1, 2019. The proposed EPS will:
  
  
  • at a minimum, apply to the sectors covered by the federal OBPS based on a mandatory emissions threshold of either 25,000 or 50,000 tCO2e per year;