Most Canadian households will get more than they pay from carbon tax: PBO

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget office says most Canadian households will receive more money back from the federal government’s carbon-tax scheme than it will cost them.

The assertion is contained in a report published by the PBO this morning, nearly four months after a majority of Canadian voters cast their ballots in favour of parties that favoured a carbon tax.

The report says the rebates provided by the federal government to most households in Canada will exceed the amount those same households will have paid in carbon tax.

In the case of Alberta, which has been ground-zero for opposition to the federal carbon tax, the report says every household will receive more in annual rebates from Ottawa than it pays.

However, the report adds that finding does not take into account the province’s own regulations for high-intensity emitters.

The PBO report also says Ottawa will end up raising about $100 million in this fiscal year in additional GST because of the added cost on products from carbon pricing, a figure that will triple by 2022-23.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press