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It’s election season again in Canada. That means it’s time to evaluate our federal political parties’ proposed policies, including with respect to climate change and the environment. 

Below, we’ve summarized some of the key differences between each party’s climate plan to help readers evaluate which would be best for Canada. We’ll update this page as necessary to reflect parties’ climate plans as they develop prior to September’s election.

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberals’ climate plan includes:

• A 2030 goal to reduce Canada’s emissions 40-45% below 2005 levels, en route to net-zero by 2050 per the recently-passed Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.

• A 2035 gas vehicle phase-out plan.

• A rising carbon price reaching $170/per tonne of carbon by 2030.

• Border carbon adjustment consideration.

• $15 billion in planned renewable energy, energy efficiency, hydrogen technology, and zero emission vehicle (ZEV) charging infrastructure investments.

You can read more about the Liberals’ A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy plan here, though some points (such as emission reduction goals) are now out of date or have now already been accomplished.

UPDATE: The Liberals’ have updated their climate platform with a new plan called A Cleaner, Greener Future. You can find a two-page PDF version of the plan here. The updated plan notably includes pledges to:

• Build 50,000 EV chargers across Canada.

• Get Canada’s electricity grid to net-zero by 2035.

• Chart a path to net-zero building emissions by 2050.

• Create intermittent targets (starting 2025) to reduce oil and gas sector emissions to net-zero by 2050.

• Introduce Just Transition legislation help oil industry workers and dependent communities transition to green economy jobs.

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservatives’ climate plan includes:

• No explicit emissions reduction target, though it commits to meeting Canada’s (former) Paris Agreement obligations (i.e., 30% below 2005 levels by 2030).*

• A plan to replace the fuel charge (consumer carbon tax) with a similar charge that places collected funds in “Personal Low Carbon Saving Account[s]”. The charge will begin at $20/tonne of carbon and rise to $50/tonne (no timeline is provided). Account funds can be spent on “greener life” items such as bikes and electric vehicles.

• No clear plan for industrial carbon pricing rates. The Conservatives will keep the current Output-Based Pricing System in place and be “prepared” to raise the applicable carbon price to $170/tonne by 2030 if necessary to satisfy Canada’s (former) Paris Agreement obligations. 

• Border carbon adjustment consideration.

• $5 billion in planned carbon capture technology investment, as well as $3 billion in natural climate solutions, including “management of forest, crop and grazing lands and restoration of grasslands, wetlands and forests.”

You can read more about the Conservatives’ The Secure Environment: The Conservative Plan to Combat Climate Change plan here.

*The Trudeau government updated Canada’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement to 40-45% below 2005 levels in July (several environmental groups said it should be at least 60%). This is Canada’s new Paris obligation even if Prime Minister Trudeau is replaced. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole says he would scale back Canada’s Paris obligation to 30% if elected.

New Democratic Party

The NDP’s climate plan includes:

• A 2030 goal to reduce Canada’s emissions 50% below 2005 levels, en route to net-zero by 2050 per the recently-passed Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.

• Keeping the Liberals’ carbon pricing and gas vehicle phase-out plans, but removing “loopholes” in the carbon pricing law.

• A commitment to eliminating fossil fuel subsidies (as compared with the Liberals’ plan to eliminate “all inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025”). No timeline for elimination is provided in the NDP’s plan.

• A commitment to implementing border carbon adjustments “that will level the playing field on imports from areas without a carbon price.”

• A commitment to enshrining the right to a healthy environment in a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights.

• Creating a Civilian Climate Corps that will “support[] conservation efforts and address[] the threat of climate change by undertaking activities such as helping restore wetlands, and planting...billions of trees.”

• A target to retrofit all buildings in Canada by 2050, and amending the National Building Code to require that by 2025 every new building in Canada be built net-zero.

• A target for net-zero electricity by 2030 and “100% non-emitting electricity” by 2040.

You can read the NDP’s Ready for Better plan here. The section entitled “Protecting our environment, securing our future” begins on page 41. The party’s climate policies can also be viewed in isolation here.

Green Party of Canada

The Green Party’s climate plan includes:

• A 2030 goal to reduce Canada’s emissions 60% below 2005 levels, en route to net-negative emissions by 2050, with the first emission target year moved up to 2023 (as opposed to 2025 per the current climate accountability legislation).

• Keeping the Liberals’ carbon pricing system but raising carbon rates by $25 per year starting in 2022, with a $265/tonne carbon price by 2030 target.

• A commitment to comprehensively ending all fossil fuel subsidies, new pipelines and exploration projects (no timeline provided).

• A commitment to implementing border carbon adjustments.

• A commitment to a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights (they don’t call it that, but that’s what it is per the plan’s description).

• Creating a Youth Climate Corps (similar to the NDP plan’s Civilian Climate Corps).

• Introducing Just Transition legislation (similar to what’s in the Liberals’ updated plan) before the end of 2021.

You can find the Green Party’s Platform 21. Be Daring. plan here.

Analysis

Though the brief summaries presented above merely highlight some key points in each of the parties’ plans, there are not too many surprises to be found reading through each in their entirety. All parties’ plans (even the Conservatives’) have many excellent aspects, but ability to execute should also be taken into consideration. 

Both the NDP and Green Party plans are incredibly ambitious. The Green Party’s plan, having arrived latest, takes many of the best ideas from the Liberal and NDP plans, then bumps the ambition up a bit. It sets the strongest 2030 reduction target, makes a clear commitment to implementing border carbon adjustments, and envisions the creation of a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights and Youth/Citizens’ Climate Corps (something I’ve supported for years). These are exceptional climate policy proposals. But the NDP and Green Party (even combined) will not win the seats they would need to implement these policies as the ruling party.

The Conservatives’ plan is unsurprisingly the weakest. It lacks a 2050 emission reduction target, would downgrade our current 2030 target, leaves out numerous crucial details regarding how it would price carbon, and its low carbon savings account aspect is an almost comically convoluted means of avoiding accepting the current fuel charge as the best policy option. The fact that much of the plan otherwise looks quite good is in part due to low expectations for the party with regard to climate policy. 

Worse still, the fact that Conservative Party membership voted against accepting the “reality of climate change” at its most recent convention suggests that if elected, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole may be incapable of corralling his MPs to actually vote in favour of his climate plan’s proposed policies.

While the Liberals’ climate platform would benefit from co-opting several provisions from the NDP and Green Party’s plans, the Liberals’ ability to execute those climate policies it proposes is the least in doubt based on track record (see Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, etc.). If re-elected - now undoubtedly with another minority government - its proposed Just Transition legislation would likely become the major legislative climate accomplishment of Trudeau’s third term.

Having trouble understanding how carbon pricing works in Canada? Check out our CPD-eligible course on the subject, Understanding Canadian Carbon Pricing. And if you’re looking for guidance as to how Canadian climate and environmental policy could affect your business, please contact us for assistance.