Ontario Calls It Quits: Implications of Ontario’s Decision to Cancel Cap-and-Trade

The Ontario government has committed to ending the cap and trade program in Ontario, fulfilling a campaign pledge made by Premier Ford earlier this year. 

Ontario’s cap and trade program was linked to California and Quebec under the Western Climate Initiative.  Pursuant to the joint carbon market, the three governments set emissions caps on their energy distributors and industrial emitters, and sold allowances that companies could purchase to comply with the regulations from 2017 to 2020.  The program also established a secondary market through which regulated companies and speculators could buy and sell allowances.

The cap and trade program was the primary tool to help Ontario achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets of 15% below 1990 levels by 2020, 37% by 2030, and 80% by 2050.

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