Ottawa rebrands carbon price rebates. How much will you get?

Canadian families will get between $760 and $2,160 in carbon price rebates this year as the carbon price itself gets hiked another $15 per tonne. A person pumps gas at a gas station in Mississauga, Ont., Tuesday, February 13, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

The federal government’s Climate Action Incentive is no more — the carbon pricing rebate is getting a rebrand and will now be renamed the Canada Carbon Rebate.

The change came on Wednesday as several ministers announced affordability measures, and seemed to signal that the government recognizes Canadians may not be aware the rebate is tied to carbon pricing when it comes into their bank accounts.

“If we can speak the language that people speak because people say the words ‘carbon’, they say the words ‘rebate’,” said Labour and Seniors Minister Seamus O’Regan, “if we can speak that language, that’s important so people understand what’s going on here.”

The government says about 80 per cent of Canadians are getting more from the rebates than they pay in carbon pricing.

Rebates for this year will impact those in provinces where the federal carbon price applies. In this case, it applies to most provinces except B.C. and Quebec, which do not participate in the plan. The Northwest Territories also do not participate, meaning residents aren’t eligible for the rebate.

Last month, the first of the year’s rebates went out to residents in those provinces via direct deposit or cheque, as long as they had filed their income tax and benefit returns.

A 10-per cent supplement is also included in the pricing plan for those in small and rural communities, beyond the base payment. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in October that the amount would double to 20 per cent in April this year as recognition for the increased energy needs and reduced access to cleaner transportation options in those jurisdictions.

This year’s increased rebates, however, also coincide with the carbon price itself being hiked another $15 per tonne. This will add another 3.3 cents to a litre of gasoline and about 2.9 cents to a cubic metre of natural gas.

Depending where you live, most families will see a boost to their rebate with about $64 added every three months in Alberta and $36 in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

How much you receive also depends on the size of the household, with a release put out Wednesday giving an average rebate for a family of four quarterly:

• $450 for Alberta
• $300 in Manitoba
• $280 in Ontario
• $376 in Saskatchewan
• $190 in New Brunswick
• $206 in Nova Scotia
• $220 in Prince Edward Island
• $298 in Newfoundland and Labrador

The government says Atlantic Canadians, except New Brunswick, are seeing a reduction in their rebate due to the decision by Ottawa to lift the pricing from heating oil for three years, as well as due to overpayments that occurred in 2023.

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Individuals will also see rebates, with a person in Alberta receiving $225 quarterly, while in a two-person household the  spouse or common-law partner will receive an additional $112.50.

A person in Manitoba will receive $150, with the spouse or common-law person getting an added $75.

An individual living on their own will receive $140 in Ontario, while a couple living together as spouses or common-law will receive an added $70 for the second person.

Saskatchewan residents will see a rebate of $188, though another $94 is received for a common-law or married couple.

New Brunswickers see $95, with a common-law partner or spouse seeing an added $47.50.

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Nova Scotia gets $103 for individuals, and $51.50 additionally for a common-law or spouse.

Newfoundland and Labrador residents will see a rebate of $149 for individuals and an added $74.50 for a common-law or spouse.

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Prince Edward Island sees a rebate of $110 for individuals and an added $55 for a spouse or common-law. As Environment and Climate Change Canada considers P.E.I. residents as living in a small and rural community, the amounts received in this region will also include the 20-per cent supplement.

The amount individuals receive will vary if considered part of a rural community, with those in Alberta, for example, receiving $270 for one person or $135 for two if living in such a jurisdiction.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the carbon pricing for much of his time as leader, holding “axe the tax” campaigns in recent months and blasting the Liberals for their carve-out for Atlantic Canadians.

“Life has become unaffordable because Trudeau has placed a punitive carbon tax on the essentials that Canadians need to survive,” his party said in a news release Wednesday.

He promised to remove the carbon pricing if Conservatives take government in the next election.

Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings criticized Poilievre during Wednesday’s press conference, saying he was choosing “catchy slogans” over solutions to climate change.

Poilievre, however, has said carbon pricing makes life less affordable while the Liberals have insisted their rebate program means that is not the case.

— with files from Global News’ Naomi Barghiel and The Canadian Press