Ottawa owes Sask. businesses $300M in carbon tax rebates: CFIB

A non-profit that advocates for businesses says the federal government is stalling on carbon tax rebates.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says Ottawa owes $2.5 billion in carbon tax rebates to small and medium-sized businesses across the country.

For Saskatchewan, the CFIB says the federal government owes $300 million in rebates or about $7,000 per Saskatchewan small business.

"Over the past five years, since the revenue was collected, we've actually only seen less than one per cent of rebates being distributed to small businesses," SeoRhin Yoo, a policy analyst for the CFIB told CTV News.

"Ottawa owes Saskatchewan small businesses almost $7,000 each in rebates."

The CFIB is urging Ottawa to issue the rebates to businesses.

"We're calling on the federal government to immediately distribute those funds," Yoo said.

The Ministry of Environment said it's working on issuing the returns, but did not provide a timeline of when businesses can expect their cheques.

"The Government of Canada is working hard to launch these fuel charge return programs and will have more details to share soon," the Ministry of Education told CTV News in an email.

The government said the rebates will be distributed in two phases. Phase one includes businesses in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are involved in phase two.  

SaskEnergy announced it will no longer collect the federal carbon tax from residences as of Jan. 1, 2024, but will still collect the carbon tax from commercial customers.