Regulating Carbon Emissions in Canada

This policy brief by the International Institute for Sustainable Development reviews Canadian greenhouse gas (GHG) policy in 2013, noting a significant decline in federal political will and a corresponding shift toward provincial leadership and inter-provincial cooperation.

• Federal GHG regulatory action stalled in late 2013, particularly regarding oil and gas regulations. Despite earlier expectations of a '30-30 proposal' (a 30 per cent emission intensity standard with a CAD$302 technology fund), the prime minister indicated in a year-end interview that these rules were on hold and could be delayed for years.
• Ontario achieved a major regulatory milestone by phasing out coal-fired thermal electricity by the end of 2013. This action, involving the closure of the Lampton and Nanticoke plants, is described as the largest single regulatory action in North America, resulting in an estimated 15 Mt reduction in emissions since 2005.
• Quebec launched its cap-and-trade system in 2013, which includes linking with California as of January 1, 2014. In December 2013, Quebec held Canada's first permit auction, generating $29 million in proceeds to fund the province's Climate Change Action Plan.
• British Columbia maintained its carbon tax at $30 per tonne following a 2012 review. However, the province faces a tension between its climate leadership and the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, as each LNG plant is estimated to emit approximately 2 Mt of GHGs annually.
• The 'Keystone effect' in 2013 linked Canada's market access in the United States to its GHG performance. President Obama's June 2013 speech suggested that the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline was dependent on whether it would 'not significantly exacerbate' net emissions.
• Federal-provincial 'equivalency' agreements, intended to allow provincial policies to coexist with federal standards, stalled in 2013. This was due to bureaucratic complexity, the lack of central guidance on stringency benchmarks, and a perceived 'light regulatory touch' for emission-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) sectors.
• In the absence of federal leadership, provinces began establishing a more coherent subnational dialogue to align foundational policy elements, such as GHG accounting and offset protocols, a process referred to as 'linking by degrees'.

APA

Sawyer, D., & Gass, P. (2014). Regulating Carbon Emissions in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canadian_carbon_policy_review_2013.pdf

Chicago

Sawyer, Dave, and Philip Gass. Regulating Carbon Emissions in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canadian_carbon_policy_review_2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sawyer |first1=Dave |last2=Gass |first2=Philip |title=Regulating Carbon Emissions in Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=February 2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canadian_carbon_policy_review_2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sawyer2014regulating, author = {Sawyer, Dave and Gass, Philip}, title = {{Regulating Carbon Emissions in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canadian_carbon_policy_review_2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }