Provinces may have to agree to Ottawa's 2035 clean power target to access funding
The federal government is to tie billions of dollars in tax credits and grants for provincial electricity projects to progress toward Ottawa's target for an emissions-free electricity grid by 2035.
"To access the tax credit will require that we are moving in the direction of a non-emitting grid," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Tuesday.
"We are in the process of consulting broadly, including with the provinces and territories, about how we will implement that in terms of the conditionality of the tax credit."
The federal budget already made clear the restriction would be in place for the new refundable 15 per cent clean electricity investment tax credit, which is for investments in non-emitting electricity production, storage and interprovincial transmission.
But there are several other new investment tax credits for hydrogen production, clean technology and carbon capture and storage systems, worth tens of billions over the next 12 years. There is also at least $3 billion in grants for renewable electricity projects and technology upgrades to make the grid more efficient, and the federal government has promised to consider helping fund transmission lines inside provinces in certain situations.
Wilkinson made the announcement in Vancouver, where he acknowledged that net-zero grids will look different in different parts of the country.
"Provinces and territories have different starting points," he said. "There will necessarily be different pathways."
Wilkinson said more details on how that flexibility would be achieved will come with the regulations.
"We are cognizant of the need for regulations to provide sufficient flexibility. There needs to some allowance for backup, there needs to be some allowance for emergencies. We have to be thoughtful about stranded assets."
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault is expected to publish the first draft of those rules as early as this week. They will spell out, for example, a timeline for natural gas power plants to be closed or fitted with carbon-capturing systems.
Committing to a net-zero electricity grid is an easy move for six of the provinces, which are already more than 90 per cent of the way there. They have to make a lot more power but they don't have to replace most of the power they already produce.
For the other four -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick -- coal and natural gas still supply between 30 per cent and 85 per cent of their power. That makes a clean grid by 2035 a much steeper challenge -- so much so that Alberta and Saskatchewan have simply said they can't do it.
"We will not attempt the impossible when it comes to power production in our province," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in May.
"We will not risk plunging our homes, our schools, our hospitals, our special care homes, our businesses into the cold and darkness because of the ideological whims of others."
Both provinces have said they are instead targeting a non-emitting grid by 2050. That's the year Canada is also aiming to be net-zero emissions, which means any greenhouse gas emissions that are still produced are captured by nature or technology.
Aiming for net-zero electricity earlier is key because it unlocks the potential to decarbonize many other industries down the road. Electric vehicles, for example, are only non-emitting if the power used to charge their batteries comes from non-emitting sources.
Wilkinson told The Canadian Press in an interview that he's not trying to draw a line in the sand but there has to be some connection between the billions of dollars on offer and progress toward Canada's goals.
"You know, my style is not to have big fights," he said. "I actually like to listen to what people and provinces have to say and to try to figure out a pathway through which we can accomplish the goals that we all want to achieve."
He also said the disagreement isn't about whether to build non-emitting electricity. It's about how fast to do it.
"The gap that exists between us is not about whether we should have a non-emitting grid. It's about whether we get there by 2035 or somewhere a little bit later," he said.
Wilkinson commended Alberta for doing what he said was the most of any province to expand its solar power production. The province is also well ahead of schedule on retiring or converting its coal-fired electricity generators, he noted. The last one will be converted before the end of this year.
Premier Danielle Smith, however, announced last week the province was pausing approvals of new large wind and solar power projects for six months while it addresses concerns about the effect on farmland, scenery, reliability and eventually, cleaning up the projects at the end of their life.
Wilkinson said he is taking Alberta "at its word" that the pause is just to ensure everything is being done properly in the face of faster-than-expected growth, particularly in solar power.
He also said he thinks there is already a good conversation happening with Alberta, and he is convinced an agreement between the two governments is possible.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP needs to decide whether 4 million Canadians deserve dental care: minister
Procurement Minister and newly appointed Quebec lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos is warning the NDP that the dental care program it helped put into place will be in jeopardy if it pulls its support from the governing Liberals.
Coffee could be more than a morning pick-me-up, according to new research
A morning cup of coffee may do more than just perk you up, according to new research.
Building collapse in Naples leaves 2 siblings dead and mother and another woman trapped
A two-story building collapsed in the southern Italian province of Naples early Sunday, killing two young siblings and leaving their mother and an older woman trapped, firefighters said.
'Hubris and greed': Takeaways from the first week of U.S. Coast Guard inquiry into the Titan submersible disaster
More than a year after the Titan submersible imploded, killing all five voyagers on board, the story of the ill-fated expedition to the Titanic has taken the form of a modern-day Greek tragedy overflowing with mortal pride and heedlessness.
What is the U.S. Electoral College? America's path to the presidency, explained
In less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. But the process that translates those millions of votes into one seat in the Oval Office is much more complicated than a straight tally.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Marxist lawmaker Anura Dissanayake claims victory in Sri Lanka's presidential election
Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday claimed he had won Sri Lanka’s presidential election.
Myths busted and lessons learned: John Vennavally-Rao on his surgery to reverse his ostomy
Twenty-seven year Â鶹´«Ã½ reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I’m grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, makes first public appearance after cancer treatment
Kate, the Princess of Wales, made her first public appearance Sunday since she announced she had completed chemotherapy and would return to some public duties.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.