DECEMBER 2023 13 The Government of Canada said that ”all the money from the federal price on pollution charged to fuel goes directly back to benefit Canadian families, businesses, farmers, and Indigenous groups—in the same province or territory where it was collected.” Who gets money from a carbon tax? Not everyone, that’s for sure. At the time of this writing—October 2023—the carbon tax money rebate can only be claimed by those provinces and territories that are subject to federal pollution pricing. The carbon tax rebate—aka the Climate Action Incentive Payment (CAIP)—was a tax credit that could be claimed on your tax return, but a few years ago it became a tax-free payment, paid quarterly, and enrollment is typically automatic. The writer of this article received a CAIP cheque in the mail for $213.50 in mid-October. Does every Canadian province have to pay a federal carbon tax? That’s sort of true. For those opting to not pay a federal carbon tax, depending on their locale, they have to pay a provincial carbon tax equivalent. The first four paying a federal carbon tax were Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta. This past summer, starting July 1, 2023, residents of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador received their first carbon tax benefit rebate because they were now being hit with a fuel pollution surcharge. British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Québec each have their own provincial carbon taxing system in place. As for our three territories, well… So, not everyone pays a federal carbon tax, and only those who use fuel to produce a product seem to get charged a carbon tax. Only those in seven provinces are currently being federally carbon taxed, and the money taxed stays in the province from which it was originally taken. We can assume that carbon taxes are charged in a manner whereby the more carbon emissions you produce, the more you get charged. So, does every person and province get the same amount of CAIP rebate? No. It gets a little bit complex regarding carbon rebates, but the chart above will allow you to calculate your quarterly CAIP rebate amount if you live in one of the seven provinces: Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, or Saskatchewan. Oh, and should you live in a designated rural area, you get an additional 10 percent more. Except if you live in Prince Edward Island because the Government of Canada has decided that the entire province is rural and has built that bonus into the dollars seen in the chart above. So why am I getting a carbon rebate? The Government of Canada cheque you may receive will have, under the Canadian flag, written: Climate action incentive payment (CAIP). While most people in Canada will not have had to contribute money via a carbon tax and didn’t know the cheque was coming, the government better not miss giving me a cheque! That’s the level of indifference most people have towards the CAIP payout, coupled with a lack of Individual/Base $193 $96.50 $96.50 $48.25 $132 $66 $66 $33 $164 $82 $82 $41 $124 $62 $62 $31 $122 $61 $61 $30.50 $120 $60 60 $30 $170 $85 $85 $42.50 Alberta Manitoba Newfoundland & Labrador Nova Scotia Ontario PEI Saskatchewan Spouse/ Common Law Partner First child in a single-parent family Each child under the age of 19
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