Approximately 600,000 small businesses will begin receiving the long-awaited federal carbon rebate starting today.
The federal government has pledged to return around $2.5 billion collected from small businesses through the carbon pricing system since 2019.
The original plan was to give back the money each year through various programs to encourage investment in energy efficiency, but these largely never materialized.
Small businesses repeatedly complain that despite paying a significant portion of the carbon price Ottawa levies, they are getting nothing back, as 90 per cent of the collected revenue is returned to households as rebates. was stated.
Individual businesses will begin receiving rebates today. The amount depends on which state your company operates in and how many workers it employs.
The funds were scheduled to be sent next month, but Small Business Minister Recy Valdez said at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday that they are being sent now instead.
Valdez said small businesses with 10 employees in Winnipeg will receive $4,810, businesses with 50 employees in Mississauga will receive $20,050 and small businesses with 200 employees in Calgary will receive $118,200. He said it was promising.
Rebates affect small and medium-sized enterprises with low emissions that do not trigger large-scale industrial carbon pricing. These companies pay the same carbon price as individuals for things like natural gas for heating and gasoline for vehicles.
Large industrial companies that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases would instead pay a carbon price on a portion of their actual emissions.
At the same press conference, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland urged opposition parties to work with the government to pass legislation that would create a GST/HST holiday on some essential goods from December 14 to February 15. did. 2025.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced this affordability policy last week. The federal government also plans to cut the $250 checks in spring 2025 for working Canadians who earned less than $150,000 last year.
In October, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said he estimated the federal government would run a $46.8 billion deficit in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The final tally of last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government releases its annual public accounts report this autumn.
Freeland promised a year ago to keep the deficit cap at that level and said he would keep that promise in his spring budget proposal.
The new fiscal guardrails were part of an effort to allay concerns that heavy government spending would spur higher prices and undermine the Bank of Canada’s efforts to curb inflation.
Asked on Monday whether the government had exceeded fiscal guardrails and when public accounts would become available for inspection, Mr Freeland focused on the Conservatives, saying their filibuster was “routine”. “It’s interfering with the work of Congress,” he said.
“I’m pleased to have this opportunity to say to the Conservative Party that it’s time to stop all this jockeying and let Parliament do its job,” she said. “We will be releasing our autumn economic report and official financial results.”
