Premier David Eby announces B.C. carbon tax to be eliminated in line with new federal policy
Premier David Eby announces B.C. carbon tax to be eliminated in line with new federal policy
There will be no hike in provincial carbon taxes April 1, says Premier David Eby, who today announced the carbon tax is being scrapped, in line with the elimination of a federal carbon taxes.
There will be no break for industry, however, as Eby announced that his government will continue to ensure “big industrial polluters pay” – which is to say they will continue to pay a new industrial carbon tax, called the output based pricing system.
The carbon tax was scheduled for an annual hike April 1 of $15 per tonne of CO2, which would have brought it to $95 per tonne.
Last year’s carbon tax hike meant motorists paid $0.17 per litre of gasoline in carbon taxes, and the April 1 would have increased that cost by three or four cents.
Eby promised the recent election campaign that his government would eliminate the consumer carbon tax, if the federal government moved to eliminate federal carbon pricing for consumers.
On Friday, in his first act as prime minister, Mark Carney cancelled the federal consumer carbon tax, and Eby said his government will follow suit.
“With Prime Minister Mark Carney moving to eliminate the federal carbon tax on consumers, we are preparing legislation for this session to repeal the tax in B.C.,” Eby announced.
Eby said his government is preparing legislation to eliminate the scheduled increase to the carbon tax for April 1. The annual scheduled increase of $15 per tonne would have topped out at $170 per tonne by 2030.
“While we eliminate the consumer carbon tax, we will continue to ensure big industrial polluters pay their fair share by maintaining an effective price on carbon for large emitters,” Eby said. “Our goal is to incentivize industry to adopt lower-carbon technologies while maintaining their competitiveness.”
Eliminating the carbon tax means the just-passed provincial budget already has a small new hole in it. Budget 2025-26 forecasts the April 1 carbon tax hike would have added $488 million to government coffers.
B.C. was the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement a carbon tax, in 2008, as part of its climate action policies.
“The carbon tax has been an important tool in British Columbia,” Eby said. “For over a decade and a half, a price on pollution has been an effective part of our efforts to tackle climate change.
“However, with cost-of-living pressures facing households and the imminent removal of federal carbon pricing, there is no longer support for the measure. We will continue our commitments to battle climate change by encouraging industry to innovate and ensuring British Columbians have affordable options to make sustainable choices.”
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