Saskatchewan introduces legislative amendment to keep carbon levy off home heating

The Saskatchewan Legislative Building in front of Walter Scott Memorial in Regina on Thursday, October 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

Saskatchewan introduced a promised legislative amendment Tuesday that would continue to see residents no longer pay federal carbon levies for home heating.

The province says the measure is expected to save the average family about $480 next year.

The amendment would ensure the province remains the sole registered distributor of natural gas throughout 2025 and beyond.

The provincial government designated itself to that role last year to protect SaskEnergy, the Crown gas utility, from potential legal action.

Saskatchewan has not remitted carbon levies to the federal government in the past year, arguing it should be exempt after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a carve-out for heating oil, which is mainly used to warm homes in Atlantic Canada.

The federal government has said it reached a deal with Saskatchewan by securing 50 per cent of what was owed until the dispute could be resolved.

"Our government is protecting Saskatchewan families' ability to affordably heat their homes this winter and ensuring fairness for those same families who were left out in the cold by the Prime Minister's decision to exempt the carbon tax from home heating oil," Crown Investments Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a news release.

"Our government will keep fighting until the carbon tax is removed everywhere, on everything, for everyone."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.