In October 2016, the federal government announced plans for a pan-Canadian carbon price, which represents a pricing benchmark and central component of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (the Framework, released in December 2016). Under the Framework, each province and territory will be required to implement a carbon price starting at $10 per tonne of CO2e in 2018 (eventually rising to $50 per tonne by 2022), either in the form of direct pricing or a cap and trade program. The benchmark provides for a federal carbon pricing backstop system that will apply in any province or territory that does not have a carbon pricing system in place by 2018 that aligns with the benchmark. The Technical Paper sets out the proposed design principles of the federal carbon pricing backstop.
Backstop Instrument
The federal government is planning to introduce new legislation and regulations to implement the carbon pricing backstop that will be applied in jurisdictions which do not have carbon pricing systems in place that meet the requirements of the federal system. In particular, all elements of the backstop will apply in each jurisdiction that does not have a carbon pricing system in place. It should be noted that the backstop is also meant to top up systems that do not fully meet the benchmark – for example, the backstop could expand the sources covered by provincial carbon pricing or it could increase the stringency of the jurisdiction’s carbon price.
According to the Technical Paper, the backstop will comprise two key elements:
A) a carbon levy on fossil fuels (whether in liquid, gaseous or solid form); and
B) an output-based pricing for industrial facilities with emissions above a specific threshold, as well as opt-in possibility for smaller facilities emitting below the threshold.
Scope of the Carbon Levy
Carbon levy rates will initially be set for the period from 2018 to 2022 – rates for each fuel subject to the levy will be established in such a way that they are equivalent to $10 per tonne of CO2e in 2018 and increase by 10 per tonne annually until it reaches $50 per tonne in 2022. The Technical Paper sets out the rates for liquid fuels, gaseous fuels and solid fuels over the initial 5-year period. In generally, the carbon levy will apply to fuels that are used in a backstop jurisdiction, irrespective of whether the fuels were produced in, or brought into, the backstop jurisdiction. It is anticipated that the carbon levy will be applied early in the supply chain of each fuel, and will be payable by the producer or distributor. The proposed system differentiates among four categories of persons along the supply chain:
- Registered Fuel Distributors – will generally include producers of fuel, large wholesale distributors of fuel, and natural gas retailers.
- Registered Fuel Importers – will generally include entities that cannot become Registered Fuel Distributors and that import fuel from outside Canada at a location in a backstop jurisdiction, or that bring fuel into a backstop jurisdiction from another jurisdiction in Canada.
- Registered Fuel Users – will generally include persons that cannot become Registered Fuel Distributors and that are required to report on fuel used in a backstop jurisdiction and, in certain circumstances, may be required to pay the carbon levy or be entitled to claim relief from the levy where it has already been paid. The following entities will be required to become Registered Fuel Users: commercial carriers (including operators of transport trucks, rail transportation, marine transportation, and air carriers), operators of facilities whose emissions are covered under the output-based pricing system, certain businesses that burn waste that is subject to the carbon levy, and certain businesses that use fuel as a raw material, dilulent or solvent in a manufacturing process that does not produce heat or energy.
- Non-Registered Persons – will generally include retailers (other than natural gas retailers) and end-users, including individuals and business consumers.
The carbon levy will generally be payable when a Registered Fuel Distributor uses fuel in a backstop jurisdiction or delivers fuel to a person in the backstop jurisdiction that is not a Registered Fuel Importer. However, there are certain exemptions from the carbon levy, including fuel that is used at industrial facilities that are subject to output-based pricing, or fuel used in farming activities by registered farmers.
Overview of Administrative Requirements
Registered Fuel Distributors, Registered Fuel Importers and Registered Fuel Users will be required to register with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) file monthly returns. Furthermore, Registered Fuel Distributors and Registered Fuel Importers will be required to provide information on fuel amounts produced, brought into and imported into every jurisdiction as well as fuel amounts used and delivered in or outside a jurisdiction. Registered persons will also need to calculate the total amount of carbon levy payable for each backstop jurisdiction and remit that amount to the Receiver General of Canada.
Requirements with Respect to Inter-Jurisdictional Commercial Transportation
It should be noted that commercial carriers (that transport passengers, freight or both) that operate in a backstop jurisdiction and in at least one other jurisdiction, will be required to register with the CRA as Registered Fuel Users. For commercial road and rail transportation, the carbon levy will apply to only the fuel that is used within a backstop jurisdiction, meaning that the levy will apply to both fuel that is used during an intra-jurisdictional journey (i.e. one that starts and ends in the same jurisdiction) and to fuel that is used during the portion of an inter-jurisdictional or international journey that occurs in a backstop jurisdiction. For fuels used in commercial marine transportation, the carbon levy will only apply to fuel used in intra-jurisdictional travel. In the aviation sector, it is anticipated that the carbon levy will only apply to fuel used in intra-jurisdictional travel; however the federal government sees the introduction of the backstop pricing mechanism as an opportunity for federal and provincial/territorial governments to develop a nationally consistent approach to aviation emission as it relates to inter-jurisdictional commercial air transportation.
Designing an Output-based Carbon Pricing System
The output-based system will apply the carbon price to the portion of a covered source’s emissions that exceed those allowed by the emissions-intensity standard for the regulated activity. In terms of scope, the system will apply the carbon price to industrial facilities with annual emissions of 50,000 tonnes or more of CO2e. However the system will apply to facilities in certain sectors including buildings (e.g. hospitals, schools, municipal buildings) as well as waste and wastewater, regardless of the amount of emissions. The proposed output-based system will provide facilities with annual emissions below 50,000 tonnes of CO2e the ability to “opt-in” to the system. If a facility emits less than its regulatory limit, it will be able to earn surplus credits that it can sell to other regulated entities.
If a facility emits more than its regulatory limit in a given year, it can choose one or a combination of the following compliance options:
– Payment based at the carbon price that will be set in the backstop legislation ($10 per tonne in 2018, increasing to $50 per tonne in 2022)
– Use of eligible carbon offset credits (the proposed system could include foreign compliance units)
– Use of surplus credits that are issued to facilities with emissions below their annual limits.
In terms of administration, each regulated facility will be required to prepare and submit an annual compliance report on its emission levels and annual emissions limit.
Looking Ahead
As noted above, the federal government is in the process of finalizing the details of the carbon pricing backstop mechanism. The carbon levy will come into effect in 2018, while it is anticipated that the output-based pricing system will not come into effect before January 1, 2019. Until the output-based pricing system comes into force, the carbon levy will apply fully to fuels used by all industrial facilities.