What is the Canadian Carbon Credit? Also, the dates and prices of the 2024 discount

The Canada Carbon Credit is a tax-free payment, created to help Canadian households reduce the cost of federal pollution prices at the gas pumps. According to the Canadian government, eight out of ten households will be reimbursed more than they pay in the carbon pricing system. Your income depends on where you live and the size of your family—more details below.

When is Canada's Carbon Credit Paid?

The Canadian Carbon Credit is distributed four times a year:

• January 15
• April 15
• July 15
• October 15

If the 15th falls on a weekend or legal holiday, payments will go out on the last business day before the 15th.

Why is there a carbon discount?

Carbon rebates are paid from money collected as part of Canada's carbon pricing system. In 2019, the federal government put a price on carbon pollution, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the time, the national minimum was $20 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). It rose to $50 in 2022, $65 in 2023 and $80 in April 2024. The minimum price will continue to rise by $15 every April until it reaches $170 per ton in 2030.

Carbon prices are collected through fuel costs and a pricing system based on industry output. Starting April 1, 2023, drivers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon and Nunavut pay a fuel surcharge of $0.1431 per liter of gas. Effective July 1, 2023, this charge also applies to drivers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. (Rates for other types of fuel vary.) In April 2024, the fuel charge rate increased to $0.1761. Look at prices for 2025 to 2030. The MoneySense hack: You can't avoid gas costs and other fuel use taxes, but you may be able to get cheaper gas or get a refund. (Read more about why gas is so expensive.)

State and local governments can use the federal carbon pollution pricing system or develop their own carbon pricing model or cap-and-trade system, as long as it meets or exceeds federal standards.

CCR and tax credits are designed to reduce the cost of fuel costs for individuals and households while also encouraging them to reduce their GHG emissions. Prior to 2021, the climate action incentive was a refundable tax credit claimed on individual income tax returns.

Ottawa returns 90% of the carbon price money it collects back to where it comes from, either to provincial and territorial governments or, in the case of CCR, directly to residents. Another 10% is used to support schools, small and medium enterprises, hospitals and indigenous programs.