Premier Scott Moe took to X Wednesday afternoon to announce the province would remove the industrial carbon tax rate. (980 CJME file photo)

By CKOM News

Politics

Premier Scott Moe to remove industrial carbon tax rate

Mar 26, 2025 | 6:00 PM

Premier Scott Moe took to social media Wednesday afternoon with an announcement about the carbon tax.

He said the province is getting rid of its industrial carbon tax rate, calling Saskatchewan the first fully carbon tax-free province in Canada.

“Now that the two major federal parties and their leaders have announced their plans for removing the carbon tax, Saskatchewan is taking the next step by reducing the industrial carbon tax rate charged in our province to zero,” Moe said in a video on X.

He said this change will give consumers a break and allow Saskatchewan industries to be more competitive in the new “tariff environment.”

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Moe said people in the province will notice a quick change.

“The immediate effect is the removal of the carbon tax on your SaskPower bills, saving Saskatchewan families and small businesses hundreds of dollars a year,” he said.

As for the long term, it will reduce prices of consumer products that “have the industrial carbon tax built right into their price.”

Moe said the province is producing some of the most sustainable products in the world.

“We want to create the environment to produce more of those sustainable products, to make our industries more competitive in the face of U.S. and Chinese tariffs, and to protect and create Canadian jobs right here in Saskatchewan,” he said.

He hopes the parties running in the upcoming federal election allow provinces to regulate their own carbon tax without imposing a “federal backstop.”

International carbon taxes

On his first day as prime minister, Mark Carney signed an order to scrap the consumer carbon tax, which applied to things like fuel, effective April 1.

Carney has said Canada will still need a carbon tax in order to be competitive in international trade.

He said European countries will either require that imports come from a country with carbon pricing, or will impose a tariff.

Carney was referring to the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which will fully be in place in 2026.

“The CBAM will ensure the carbon price of imports is equivalent to the carbon price of domestic production, and that the EU’s climate objectives are not undermined,” the European Commission noted on its website.

When asked about Carney’s comments, Moe rejected the idea that not having a carbon tax could hamper trade. The premier went on to make point he often does when talking about Saskatchewan commodities, saying the oil, potash, and agricultural products coming from the province are among the least, if not the least, carbon intensive in the world.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that he will repeal the entire carbon price law if elected, including on businesses and the industrial charge.

Poilievre says that if the Liberals are serious about ending the charge, they would recall Parliament and do it through legislation, in a video posted on social media.

To reduce emissions, Poilievre says his government would “expand eligibility” for the clean technology and clean manufacturing tax credits.

Only Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Nunavut use the federal industrial pricing system, while all other provinces have their own industrial price that uses the federal price as a minimum pollution charge.

— with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick and The Canadian Press