Carbon pollution pricing has long been a critical part of the plan to fight climate change in Canada. The provinces of British Columbia and Quebec were two early leaders in this policy. In 2008, British Columbia introduced the first broad-carbon tax in North America; the tax supports the growth of B.C.’s low carbon economy and includes programs to keep the tax affordable while providing opportunities to make lower carbon choices. Quebec became the first jurisdiction to price carbon in North America in 2006, and has been linked to California’s robust cap-and-invest system since 2013. In October 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Pan-Canadian Approach to Pricing Carbon Pollution, which gave provinces and territories the flexibility to develop their own carbon pollution pricing system or adopt the federal system, and outlined criteria all systems must meet to ensure they are stringent, fair, and efficient.

How do these Canadian carbon pricing systems operate, and what has made them so effective? What have we learned from these policies over the last 12 years? Professor Barry Rabe, a University of Michigan and expert on climate and energy politics, will provide a non-governmental perspective on the Canadian carbon markets that have led the way for other states. Joining us for this Deep Dive into Canada’s carbon markets are two government officials from the provinces that have led the way: Jeremy Hewitt, the Assistant Deputy Minister of B.C.’s Climate Action Secretariat; and Delegate Marie-Claude Francoeur, a senior leader in Quebec’s Department of Transportation at the time of the policy’s inception.