If you want to cash in on the final carbon tax rebate, you will have to get some things in order in the next couple of weeks.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney scrapped the consumer carbon tax as his first move as Liberal Party leader.
“The consumer carbon tax was too divisive when we should be pulling together. That’s why I took action to cancel it on day one,” he posted on X.
Mark Carney’s signed decree to remove the consumer carbon tax. (@MarkJCarney/X)
He announced last Friday that the fuel charge would be removed as of April 1 but that the Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR) would still be issued for that month.
The carbon rebate, formerly known as the Canada Climate Action Incentive Payment (CAIP), is a quarterly, tax-free amount to help eligible individuals and families offset the cost of federal pollution pricing.
According to a notice on the government’s tax credits and benefits page, the final CCR payment will be issued starting April 22. However, to receive the payment starting on that date, the government says individuals must have filed their 2024 income tax and benefit return electronically no later than April 2.
If you file your taxes after April 2, you’ll still receive the CCR payment, but will need to wait until your 2024 return is assessed.
Who’s eligible for the carbon tax rebate?
Ottawa puts a price on pollution in provinces that don’t have their own carbon pricing system.
Canadians in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario can receive the final CCR.
To be eligible, residents in those provinces must be at least 19 years old in the month before the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) makes a payment.
If you are under 19 years old, the government says you must meet at least one of the following conditions to be eligible:
- You have (or had) a spouse or common-law partner
- You are (or were) a parent and live (or lived) with your child
If you have kids and they’re already registered for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) or the GST credit, a credit for each eligible child will be included in the calculation of the CCR.
Your child is eligible if all of the following conditions are met at the beginning of the payment month:
- Your child is under 19 years of age
- Your child lives with you
- You are primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of your child
- Your child is registered for the CCR (or already registered for the CCB or GST/HST credit)
If you live in a province or territory with its own pollution pricing system, you do not qualify for the carbon tax rebate. This includes the Yukon, Quebec, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia.
How much will you get?
Canadians who are single with no children may receive the following CCR amounts in April:
- $225 in Alberta
- $150 in Manitoba
- $140 in Ontario
- $188 in Saskatchewan
- $95 in New Brunswick
- $103 in Nova Scotia
- $110 in Prince Edward Island
- $149 in Newfoundland and Labrador
The carbon rebate also includes a 20 per cent supplement for residents in small and rural communities.
The supplement applies only to residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia whose primary residence is outside a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and who expect to continue to reside outside the same CMA on April 1, 2024.
All carbon tax rebate recipients in Prince Edward Island are eligible for the rural supplement, which is included in their basic amount.
You can calculate your amount depending on your location, marital status and number of children on the government site.
