The Canada Carbon Rebate is a tax-free payment, created to help Canadian households offset the cost of federal pollution pricing at gas pumps. According to the Canadian government, eight in 10 families will get back more than they pay into the carbon pollution pricing system. The amount you receive depends on where you live and the size of your family—more details below.
When is the Canada Carbon Rebate paid out?
The Canada Carbon Rebate is distributed four times per year:
- January 15
- April 15
- July 15
- October 15
If the 15th happens to fall on a weekend or statutory holiday, payments will go out on the last business day before the 15th.
Why is there a carbon rebate?
Carbon rebates are paid out from money collected as part of Canada’s carbon pricing system. In 2019, the federal government put a price on carbon pollution, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the time, the national minimum price was $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). It went up to $50 in 2022, $65 in 2023 and $80 in April 2024. The minimum price will continue rising $15 every April until it reaches $170 per tonne in 2030.
Carbon prices are collected through fuel charges and an output-based pricing system for industry. Since April 1, 2023, drivers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon and Nunavut have paid a fuel charge of $0.1431 per litre of gas. Since July 1, 2023, this charge has also applied to drivers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. (Rates for other fuel types vary.) In April 2024, the fuel charge rate increased to $0.1761. See the rates for 2025 to 2030. MoneySense hack: You can’t avoid fuel charges and other fuel consumption levies, but you might be able to find cheaper gas or get cash back. (Read more about why gas is so expensive.)
Provincial and territorial 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.
The CCR and tax credits are meant to offset the cost of fuel charges for individuals and families while also encouraging them to reduce their GHG emissions. Before 2021, the climate action incentive was a refundable tax credit claimed on personal income tax returns.
Ottawa returns 90% of the carbon pricing money it collects back to the jurisdictions where it came from, either to the provincial and territorial governments or, in the case of the CCR, directly to residents. The other 10% is used to support schools, small and medium-sized businesses, hospitals and Indigenous programs.