Budget watchdog details millions in potential GST revenues on carbon pricing

OTTAWA – A new report from Parliament’s budget watchdog says carbon pricing in four provinces could net the federal government more than $500 million over two years in GST revenues.

The report by the parliamentary budget officer, out today, says GST revenues from Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Quebec could total between $236 million and $267 million by the end of the current fiscal year next April, and between $265 million and $313 million in the next fiscal year.

Jean-Denis Frechette’s report says the calculations will help Canadians understand the impact of a national carbon pricing policy on revenue from the goods and services tax.

The Liberals are expected to introduce legislation next year to allow the federal government to impose a carbon price on provinces that don’t meet the federal standard on their own.

The federal plan calls for a price on carbon pollution of $10 per tonne in 2018, increasing by $10 every year to $50 per tonne in 2022.

The Liberals have said any revenues generated from the system would stay in the province or territory where they are generated — a stance provinces have questioned, since the federal government earns money through the five per cent tax charged in the final cost of a good or service.