Budget watchdog says carbon-price revenues to be $2.6B this year

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Canada’s budget watchdog says revenues from the federal carbon price will be more than $2.6 billion this year and exceed $6 billion a year within five years.

The new analysis by the parliamentary budget office, which includes both the high-profile fuel tax applied in four provinces and a separate pricing system for big industrial emitters, also says that revenues will start to fall after five years because Canadians will burn less fossil fuel.

The federal government implemented a fuel surcharge this month in the provinces that have not enacted carbon-pricing systems of their own, starting at $20 per tonne of emissions produced and rising to $50 per tonne in 2022.

The PBO report says the average cost to families from the carbon price this year will be $193 in New Brunswick, $256 in Ontario, $260 in Manitoba and $425 in Saskatchewan.

To offset the cost of the tax Ottawa introduced an income-tax rebate that will average more than the expected costs in all four of those provinces.

Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba have all filed court challenges questioning Ottawa’s authority to impose the tax.

The Canadian Press

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