BONDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA REPORT

The report highlights a significant surge in Canadian green bond issuance in 2017, which reached C$3.8 billion, exceeding all previous years combined. While Canada ranks 10th globally for labelled green bonds, the report identifies a substantial 'climate-aligned' bond universe of C$39 billion, suggesting significant untapped potential. Growth has been driven primarily by provincial entities like Ontario and Quebec, and government-backed entities such as Export Development Canada, with the City of Ottawa recently becoming the first municipality to issue a green bond. The document argues that while policy drivers like the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change are favorable, Canada lacks a comprehensive financial plan to mobilize private capital. It recommends that the federal government issue a sovereign green bond and establish national sustainable finance standards to further catalyze the market.

• Canadian labelled green bond issuance experienced record growth in 2017, with C$3.8 billion issued, a sum that exceeds the total of all previous years combined.
• Canada is ranked 10th globally as a source of labelled green bond issuance and 5th in unlabelled climate-aligned bond issuance.
• Sub-sovereign and municipal entities are key drivers of the market; Ontario and Quebec led issuance in 2017, and the City of Ottawa issued a C$102 million green bond in November 2017 for transportation projects, becoming the first Canadian municipality to do so.
• There is a significant volume of unlabelled climate-aligned bonds in Canada totaling C$39 billion, primarily dominated by the energy sector (specifically hydro, accounting for 43%) and transport (including Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway).
• The report identifies a gap in Canada's climate strategy: the absence of a complementary financial plan to coordinate private sector and international capital. The Conference Board of Canada estimates that C$3.4 trillion in new investments are needed by 2050 to meet Paris commitment targets, averaging C$100 billion annually.
• The federal government is encouraged to issue a sovereign green bond to provide the market with necessary scale and liquidity, noting that while a mandate letter directed the Minister of Infrastructure to work on this, Canada has yet to issue one.

APA

Boulle, B., Marcano, M., Frandon-Martinez, C., Giuliani, D., & Whiley, A. (2017). BONDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA REPORT. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Bonds-and-Climate-Change-Canada-Report-2017.pdf

Chicago

Boulle, Bridget, Mercedes Marcano, Camille Frandon-Martinez, Diletta Giuliani, and Andrew Whiley. BONDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA REPORT. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2017. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Bonds-and-Climate-Change-Canada-Report-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Boulle |first1=Bridget |last2=Marcano |first2=Mercedes |last3=Frandon-Martinez |first3=Camille |last4=Giuliani |first4=Diletta |last5=Whiley |first5=Andrew |title=BONDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA REPORT |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=November 2017 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Bonds-and-Climate-Change-Canada-Report-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{boulle2017bonds, author = {Boulle, Bridget and Marcano, Mercedes and Frandon-Martinez, Camille and Giuliani, Diletta and Whiley, Andrew}, title = {{BONDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA REPORT}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Bonds-and-Climate-Change-Canada-Report-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }