Climate Change
CARBON PRICING Under the federal government’s “pan-Canadian approach to pricing carbon pollution,” provinces and territories were obliged to develop a carbon pricing mechanism (through an explicit price-based system or a cap-and-trade system) or be subject to the “backstop” federal carbon pricing mechanism. Provinces and territories that adopted a price-based system were required to establish a carbon price of at least $65 per tonne in 2023, which is to increase annually by $15 to $170 per tonne in 2030. For provinces and territories that selected a cap-and-trade system, the emissions- reduction target for 2030 must be equal to or greater than the federal target of 30% below 2005 levels. The federal carbon pricing mechanism has been implemented in the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA), providing for – a regulatory charge on fuel, as specified in Schedule 2 of the GGPPA; and – a regulatory trading system for large industry, also known as the federal Output-Based Pricing System (OBPS), which applies to industrial facilities located in a province or territory that is subject to the GGPPA, that engage in any of the activities listed in Schedule 1 to the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations , and that emit at least 50 kt or more of GHG per year. As of July 2023, both parts of the federal pricing system apply in Manitoba, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island and Yukon. The federal fuel charge applies alongside provincial carbon pricing systems for industry in Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. British Columbia, Québec and the Northwest Territories have implemented alternative carbon pricing programs that satisfy federal stringency requirements.
Directors and officers of a corporation have statutory obligations under federal and certain provincial environmental laws to take reasonable care to ensure that the corporation complies with such laws.
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Doing Business in Canada
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