Alberta will not be further raising its carbon pricing on industry, Premier Danielle Smith has announced, saying the cost for businesses has become “too high to bear.”
“What we have heard from industry is that any further increases to the industrial carbon tax past $100 per tonne would be detrimental to their businesses and would diminish their competitiveness in the market,” Smith said in a press conference in Edmonton on May 12.
Smith said the current price of $95 per tonne of emissions will remain in place indefinitely. The price was set to rise to $110 next year and up to $170 in 2030.
The premier said the imposition of U.S. tariffs on Canada have increased costs, disrupted supply chains, and created uncertainty for businesses, leading to challenges remaining competitive globally.
Smith said her government will do “everything we can” to help industry remain competitive, in part by slashing red tape. She added Alberta remains committed to reducing emissions, but will aim to achieve that through the use of new technologies rather than “unrealistically high taxes.”
Smith said raising the carbon price to $170 per tonne would have a “devastating” impact on Alberta’s economy, which she said is also hampered by Ottawa’s emissions cap on oil and gas and other policies blocking resources development. Crude oil is Canada’s top export by value by a large margin and Alberta is the main producing province.
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The Epoch Times reached out to the environment minister’s office and Environment Canada for comment on Alberta’s move on carbon pricing but didn’t hear back by publication time.
Alberta has its own industrial carbon tax, called the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation. Ottawa allows provinces and territories to manage their own systems, while establishing a national benchmark.
The benchmark is established at $95 per tonne in 2025 and is set to rise by $15 per year until 2030.
During the Liberal leadership race, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to drop the consumer-facing portion of the carbon tax while making carbon pricing for industry more stringent.
Immediately after being sworn in as prime minister in mid-March, Carney set the rate of the consumer carbon tax, or fuel charge, to zero. The federal government also removed the requirement for provinces and territories to impose such regimes.
Further changes could come as the federal government intends to consult with stakeholders to determine what changes to make to the federal benchmark. The federal government says it wants to maximize emissions reductions and the transition to low carbon technologies, while also keeping industries competitive.
Smith noted Carney had acted on the fuel charge on his first day in office.
“The fact that the first action that Prime Minister Park Mark Carney took was to eliminate the retail carbon tax shows you that that price had gotten too high to bear, and I think that it’s reasonable to expect that it’s it’s a parallel in the business community, that the price has gotten too high to bear,” she said.
Smith said the business community has “reached its limit,” especially in the context of increased competition with the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has set policies to “unleash” American energy and reduce regulations.
Canada’s top energy CEOs wrote an open letter to Carney last month, wherein the leaders of 38 companies asked him to remove the emissions cap on the oil and gas sector and drop carbon pricing on industry.
The CEO’s referenced Carney’s stated goal to build the strongest economy in the G7, saying, “As a major contributor to the Canadian economy, with significant untapped potential, the energy sector must play a pivotal role in your pursuit of this ambition.”
The CEOs also requested a revision of the Impact Assessment Act (Bill C-69) and the West Coast tanker ban. Carney has not expressed opposition to these measures, but has promised during the election campaign to speed up approvals of major projects.
It’s not the first time that a province has opted to go against carbon pricing regulations set by Ottawa. Saskatchewan paused its industrial carbon tax on April 1. It had also lifted the consumer carbon tax on home heating early last year, leading to a legal dispute with Ottawa.
Saskatchewan’s move on home heating followed the Liberal government’s pause on the carbon tax for home heating oil in the fall of 2023. Justin Trudeau was facing backlash at the time from MPs from the Atlantic region where this form of heating is more prevalent.
