March 17, 2025 (Ottawa, ON) – The Agriculture Carbon Alliance (ACA) welcomes the Prime Minister’s announced elimination of the consumer carbon price via Order-in-Council (OIC) until further legislative action provides increased certainty for farmers.
“The reduction of the consumer carbon price to $0 is a good first step for Canadians – and, by extension, our farmers, growers and ranchers,” said Dave Carey, co-chair of ACA. “We welcome this news, and we look forward to the ongoing discussion on permanently removing the carbon pricing mechanism for producers.”
“With many farmers on the eve of a new growing season, and others in the midst of harvest, they need certainty when it comes to future carbon pricing and the impact on all farms. We hope this this will come through legislative action once Parliament has resumed.”
The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, passed in 2019, sets out a legislative framework for both the consumer carbon price and the industrial price. Without a future legislative change though, the risk remains that farmers could continue paying a carbon price on essential farming activities such as irrigation, grain drying, feed preparation, heating or cooling of barns and other agriculture growing structures.
“Our farmer members are facing a significant rise in input, land and labour costs, while seeing a reduction in their revenue due to trade uncertainty,” added Scott Ross, co-chair of ACA.
“The Prime Minister’s actions have come as welcome news, but Canadian producers need certainty on this issue – particularly during this challenging time in international trade.”
With no viable fuel alternatives, carbon surcharges pull capital from critical investments that would otherwise augment the sector’s potential to reduce emissions further and support food security.
ACA urges Parliamentarians to reach a permanent solution via the removal or alteration of the existing Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to exempt all farmers, growers and ranchers of all sizes from carbon pricing entirely. ACA remains committed to working with the government to shape agri-environmental policies that drive sustainable productivity growth and strengthen the competitiveness of our producers.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Cole Christensen
cole@colesag.com
403-589-3529
ACA is a national coalition of 16 farm organizations committed to meaningful and collaborative dialogue with the federal government around carbon pricing. Our membership encompasses all major agriculture commodities and represents 190,000 farm businesses that steward 62 million hectares. Canada’s farmers are the heart of our agri-food value chain, which contributes $135 billion annually and provides one in nine Canadian jobs.
