Canada’s carbon tax rebate system has been rebranded, policy unchanged

By Rachel Aiello

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    OTTAWA (CTV Network) — Canada’s federal government is rebranding the carbon tax rebate.

Previously known as the Climate Action Incentive Payment, the Liberals are now calling it the “Canada Carbon Rebate,” according to a release touting the amount Canadians will be reimbursed this year.

A series of ministers announced the new name for the existing rebate program, in Ottawa on Wednesday. The change does not come with any adjustments to how the federal fuel charge system and corresponding refund actually works.

“The name was updated to the Canada Carbon Rebate to clarify its function, and make its meaning and relationship to the carbon pricing system more intuitive for Canadians,” reads a government press release.

The pollution pricing program and corresponding rebate system has been in effect since 2019. It applies a levy on greenhouse gas emissions, making it more expensive to burn fossil fuels, in an effort to encourage Canadians to change their habits.

The rebates are given to Canadians through direct deposit or cheque every three months, in provinces where the federal backstop system applies.

Starting in April, a family of four will receive “Canada Carbon Rebates” of:

$1,800 in Alberta ($450 quarterly); $1,200 in Manitoba ($300 quarterly); $1,120 in Ontario ($280 quarterly); $1,504 in Saskatchewan ($376 quarterly); $760 in New Brunswick ($190 quarterly); $824 in Nova Scotia ($206 quarterly); $880 in Prince Edward Island ($220 quarterly); and, $1,192 in Newfoundland and Labrador ($298 quarterly).

Talks of a rebrand have been circling on the Hill since MPs got back to the Capital last month, after the federal government faced months of political heat for advancing select carbon tax carve-outs.

Last month Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pointed to the at-times nondescript direct deposits that land in Canadians’ bank accounts, and said that “Canadians have the right to know what they’re getting.”

Now, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the Liberals are working with financial institutions to “make sure that it’s labeled properly so that people actually know what it is.”

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