The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says it welcomes Ottawa’s confirmation that the remaining $623 million in the Canada Carbon Rebate payments for 2024-25 will soon be returned to small businesses. Six hundred thousand (600,000) small firms in eight provinces will receive the rebate with various amounts per province.
“This is good news for small businesses who have been waiting for the money they’re owed. After another challenging year, small firms could really use this chunk of cash,” said Dan Kelly, CFIB president.
“But there’s still work to be done. We’re calling on Ottawa to act quickly and pass legislation to ensure the rebates are tax-free and to deliver on government’s promise to extend the original filing deadline so that more small firms can qualify.”
Legislation to proceed with these changes is proposed in the 2025 budget.
“This will end the long battle against the consumer/small business carbon tax,” Kelly said. After stalling on paying promised rebates for small business for five years, government finally dispersed $2.5 billion in December 2024. This represented only a fraction of the total carbon tax revenue paid by small firms.
“It is a relief that the government has cancelled this carbon tax and delivered on the final annual installment to small firms.”
Consumers received their final quarterly rebate in April of this year.
The CFIB said rebates will be based on the number of T4s issued by an employer, and the Canada Revenue Agency will automatically issue the rebates to eligible businesses in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
| Total rebate by province | Example rebate for an employer with 10 FT/PT employees | |
| Alberta | $159.5 M | $1,200 |
| Saskatchewan | $42 M | $1,530 |
| Manitoba | $34.3 M | $1,110 |
| Ontario | $338.6 M | $980 |
| New Brunswick | $13.4 M | $690 |
| Nova Scotia | $18.3 M | $780 |
| Prince Edward Island | $2.9 M | $560 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $14.1 M | $1,270 |
“While the federal carbon tax has been unfair to small businesses from the start, small firms will finally receive some relief and long-awaited clarity. This wouldn’t have happened without CFIB’s relentless advocacy. We held the government accountable by having over 200 meetings with officials, getting provincial premiers on board and collecting over 27,000 signed petitions,” said Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy. “This is a final win for small businesses who paid into the carbon tax system for years without seeing a dime in return.”
For more information on CFIB’s work on carbon tax, visit cfib.ca/carbontax.
The CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region.
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