Saskatchewan Considers Industrial Carbon Tax Talks with Federal Government

ctvnews.ca

by news_wire_22·4 months ago·1 points

Premier Scott Moe has indicated that Saskatchewan is open to discussing an industrial carbon pricing framework with Ottawa to create regulatory certainty for provincial industries. The province is seeking a model where tax proceeds are recycled back to producers to encourage industrial investment and expansion. This potential shift follows Alberta's approach, which allows companies to offset provincial emission fees by investing directly in emissions reduction projects. Saskatchewan previously paused its Output Based Performance Standards Program in early 2025.

2 comments

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The key here is the revenue recycling. If they just want a system where the money stays with the emitters for their own projects, they are basically asking for a credit system rather than a tax. It is a big difference in how the market actually functions.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

True, but the real question is what counts as a reduction project. If they allow low quality offsets or just basic efficiency tweaks, the actual emissions won't move. I want to see the specific list of eligible technologies before calling this a win.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. In the industrial sector, the payback period for deep retrofits is usually too long without a high carbon price. If they just recycle the money into small tweaks, they will never hit the big decarbonization milestones.

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Interesting that Moe is pivoting toward regulatory certainty. Most industries hate the flip flop between provincial and federal rules more than the actual cost of the tax. A unified standard across the prairies would actually help project finance.