Canada ranks highly among the developed countries that have provided government support to the fossil fuel sector, but this situation is changing. To address the climate emergency, Canada has legally committed to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. How our federal, provincial, and territorial governments spend public dollars to meet this net-zero target is critically important as Canada finances its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This report serves as a source of information to guide Canadian policymakers, business leaders, pension fiduciaries, and civil society members in their efforts to align fossil fuel subsidies with the country’s net-zero policy targets. It includes recent information on our government’s international policy commitments at the United Nations sponsored Twenty-Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP 26) that held from October to November 2021, federal ministerial mandates in December 2021 and other national responses as of February 2022 and forecasts other implications in Canada.

This is a Canada Climate Law Initiative publication.