Canada’s carbon price is set to increase on April 1, 2021.
The price increase is part of a broader plan by the federal government to raise the price by $10 per tonne each year until it reaches $50 per tonne in 2022.
“The federal government in its December climate plan was very clear,” Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said during a press conference on Thursday.
The plan, which was introduced by the Trudeau government in 2018, chalked out a national framework for pricing carbon that would apply to regular consumers as well as industrial emitters.
Going by that plan, the current level of $30 per tonne of industrial greenhouse gas emissions will be raised to $40 per tonne starting in April.
The price increase translates to 8.8 cents per litre of gasoline as of April 1, 2021 for the regular consumer, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.
After the carbon price reaches $50 per tonne in 2022, it will begin rising by $15 per year until it maxes out at $170 per tonne of carbon pollution in 2030, according to the federal government proposal.
By 2030, that would roughly translate to a hike of 39.6 cents per litre of gasoline, as compared to what Canadians were paying before the tax was levied.
Earlier Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the federal government the constitutional nod to impose a carbon price on the provinces.
The decision comes after years of negotiations between some provinces and the federal government over the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA).
The act points to a minimum set of standards for pricing carbon, leaving provinces with the choice to set their own policies beyond that initial threshold.
However, if those provincial policies don’t meet the standards directed in the federal law, Ottawa can slap its federal carbon tax on the province.
The measures, overall, aim to reduce carbon emissions by 32 per cent by 2030, which moderately surpasses the 2030 Paris targets to reduce emissions by 30 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030.
While many provinces did not welcome the decision, Wilkinson called the ruling “a win for the millions of Canadians who believe we must build a prosperous economy that fights climate change.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, on the other hand, expressed his disappointment over the court ruling.
“We are obviously disappointed with that decision,” he said during a press conference on Thursday, adding, “we’ll take time to study that decision in detail.”
–With files from Rachel Gilmore and Amanda Connolly
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