Carbon price and rebates rising Saturday in Ontario, Prairies
OTTAWA — It will cost many Canadians a bit more to fill their gas tanks or heat their houses next month as the national carbon price rises Saturday in the three Prairie provinces and Ontario.
At the same time, the government is increasing the size of the carbon price rebate cheques issued to families in those provinces to offset the cash crunch to family budgets.
The carbon price is meant to encourage people to cut back on their use of greenhouse-gas emitting fuels, while the rebate accompanies it to prevent most families from being worse off financially as a result.
A new report Thursday by the Parliamentary Budget Officer says those rebates will exceed the direct costs of the carbon price paid by a majority of families.