Trudeau pauses carbon tax for home heating fuels

The federal government has introduced a new energy affordability package.

The government is moving ahead with doubling the pollution price rebate rural top-up rate, increasing it from 10 to 20 per cent of the baseline amount starting in April 2024.

Given the pressures faced by households and small businesses that use oil heating, the Prime Minister also announced that the government is moving ahead with a temporary, three-year pause to the federal price on pollution on deliveries of heating oil in all jurisdictions where the federal fuel charge is in effect.

Homeowners who sign up for heat pumps will receive an upfront payment of $250 for low- to median-income households.

A strengthened Oil to Heat Pump Affordability program will partner with provinces and territories to increase from $10,000 to $15,000 the amount of federal funding eligible homeowners can receive for installing a heat pump, adding up to an additional $5,000 in grant funding to match provincial and territorial contributions via co-delivery arrangements.