Trudeau Says Saskatchewan Will Keep Getting Carbon Rebate Despite Pausing Tax Collection

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a press conference in Oakville, Ont. on April 24, 2024. The Canadian Press/Cole Burston

The prime minister says Saskatchewan residents will continue to receive carbon rebates despite his “disagreement” with the provincial government’s decision to withhold the carbon tax on home heating from Ottawa.

“We’re going to continue to deliver the Canada carbon rebate to families right across to Saskatchewan, despite the fact that Premier Moe is not sending that money to Ottawa right now,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at an April 23 news conference in Saskatoon.

The prime minister’s announcement comes after Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson’s suggested last month that residents would not receive the rebate if the province continued to withhold carbon tax for home heating.

Mr. Trudeau said the government’s federal revenue agency has the means to collect the money Ottawa is owed by the province.

“The Canada Revenue Agency has ways of ensuring that money that is owed to them is eventually collected,” he said. “And we have faith in the rigorous quasi-judicial proceedings the Canada Revenue Agency uses.”

Minister of Crown Investments Dustin Duncan said he’s confident the province’s decision not to collect the tax protects the people of Saskatchewan from paying “unfair” home heating prices.

“The federal government is indicating they’re going do what they can to recoup the money,” Mr. Duncan said April 23 in Regina.

“But by the looks of the federal budget documents, it looks like they might not have the power to do what they’re wanting to do.”

As for the prime minister’s promise to give Saskatchewan residents rebates, he said “our view is still that they shouldn’t be collecting it in the first place. The fact the federal government is going to give people their money back, I guess that’s a good thing.”

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told reporters in Ottawa April 23 that while he isn’t sure how the Canada Revenue Agency would collect the money, Mr. Trudeau has directed the agency to do so.

“The prime minister, and I think cabinet, felt it wouldn’t be fair for the people of Saskatchewan to pay for the irresponsible attitude of the provincial government,” Mr. Guilbeault said.

Premier Scott Moe and his government have been vocal opponents of carbon pricing and made the decision last year to begin withholding the home heating carbon tax as of Jan. 1.

The province stopped collecting the carbon tax on home heating to protest the prime minister’s refusal to exempt all forms of home heating from the tax. Mr. Trudeau paused the tax for home heating oil last fall, a move that largely benefits Atlantic Canada, as in the rest of the country the primary heat sources are natural gas, propane, and electricity.

Family of Four Better Off, Trudeau Says

Mr. Trudeau said eight out of 10 households in federally carbon-taxed provinces earn more back in rebates than they pay in taxes, adding that low-income and middle-income families in Saskatchewan are almost always “better off” under the carbon rebate initiative.

A family of four in Saskatchewan will receive $1,800 back “which is more than the price on the cost of pollution,” Mr. Trudeau added.

A 2023 Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) report has refuted Mr. Trudeau’s assertions that Canadians get more back from the rebate than they spend. The report indicated the carbon tax would result in a “net loss” of between $377 and $911 in 2024–2025 for most middle class Canadian households even after receiving federal rebates.

The prime minister has described carbon pricing as the best way to address the impacts of climate change while setting Canada up for “success in the future.”

The federal carbon tax is the price placed on the carbon content of fuels to reduce CO2 emissions. It is applied across the country except in British Columbia, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories where they collect their own fuel tax.

Carbon pricing kicked off in 2019 at $20 per tonne and is set to rise $15 per tonne every year until it eventually reaches $170 per tonne in 2030.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.