Carbon Tax Will Be Implemented In Ontario On April 1st! But How (If At All) Will Your Condominium Be Impacted?
As part of Canada’s effort to meet the emission reduction goals established at the 2015 Paris Global Climate Conference, a federal carbon tax will take effect on Monday, April 1st, 2019. The tax will take effect in the four Provinces that failed to introduce their own approved carbon pricing systems – Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
While the carbon tax has broad implications, the most direct potential impact on condominiums will be limited, for the most part, to those condominiums that use natural gas.
This said, while all of the natural gas utilities have applied for permission to increase the rates they can charge to natural gas consumers, the Ontario Energy Board has yet to approve any increases. Such increases may eventually be approved, however as of April 1, 2019, there will be no change to reflect the federal carbon tax on condominium natural gas bills.
Instead, the Ontario Energy Board recently posted a decrease (estimated at about 6%) on natural gas rates, which will take effect as of April 1, 2019. So in effect, condominiums that use natural gas will actually see an overall decrease on their natural gas bill as of April 2, 2019. To find out more, click here to read the Backgrounder issued by the Ontario Energy Board on March 25, 2019.
Stay tuned to Condo Law News to keep up to date on the latest developments!
