BC’s Ministers Of Mines And Low Carbon Innovation And Environment And Climate Change Strategy Issue Statement On Carbon Pricing

The BC government is not happy with the Federal Government’s move that doubles the top-up of the carbon price rebate for rural Canadians.

The change will begin in April and the feds say there will also be a temporary three-year pause to carbon pricing measures applied to heating oil, which kicks in in two weeks.

They are also introducing a heat-pump rebate program for people who switch over from oil - a pilot project will begin in Atlantic Canada.

Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, and George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, have released the following statement in response to the Government of Canada’s carbon tax announcement:

“We just learned of this federal announcement, which is unfortunate, because B.C. is leading Canada with our CleanBC climate action plan. We expect better partnership from the federal government.

“When it comes to heat pumps, we’ve long been pushing the federal government for exactly this sort of joint rebate for people switching from heating oil. We expect the federal government to get this done without any further delay.

“Regarding carbon pricing on home heating oil, even though that kind of home heating is less common in B.C. than other parts of the country, we know there are British Columbians who still rely on that. We will be taking action in B.C.”

B.C. residents can currently receive a combined rebate of up to $6,000 from BC Hydro and CleanBC to switch from fossil fuel heat to an electric heat pump.

To read the news release, visit Government of Canada.