Canada's Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Launched Today

Today, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault launched Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System.

This offset system, formalized via regulations now published in Canada Gazette II, gives municipalities, foresters, farmers, Indigenous communities, and others a market-based incentive to undertake innovative projects that reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by preventing emissions and removing GHGs from the atmosphere.

Today the Government of Canada also launched the first in a series of federal offset protocols. Through the Landfill Methane Recovery and Destruction protocol municipalities and other landfill operators will be able to generate offset credits for recovering landfill gas from their operations and destroying it or repurposing it into energy with technologies such as flares, boilers, turbines, and engines.

Four additional offset protocols are currently in development:

• Advanced Refrigeration
• Agriculture (Enhanced Soil Organic Carbon)
• Livestock Feed Management
• Forest Management

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has also identified additional project types for the next set of protocols to be developed in Canada’s GHG Offset Credit System. As protocols are completed, work on new protocols will begin, including protocols for:

• Improved Forest Management on Public Lands
• Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Sequestration
• Livestock Manure Management
• Anaerobic Digestion

Minister Guilbeault also announced that ECCC is accepting applications for input from technical experts to assist in the development of a Direct Air Carbon Capture and Sequestration protocol. Technical experts are encouraged to submit here by July 31st, 2022.

The availability of offset credits is expected to help stimulate innovation and private sector investment in economic activities to reduce emissions, thus keeping Canada competitive in a decarbonizing economy.