Canadian climate policy has undergone significant changes in the past year. A new version of the Canadian Climate Policy Inventory database at 440 Megatonnes allows you to explore this changing policy landscape in detail.

The database, which 440 Megatonnes helped develop as part of the Canadian Climate Policy Partnership, offers the most comprehensive picture of federal, provincial, and territorial policies to reduce emissions.

The updated database covers policy changes up to March 2026, so it does not reflect some recent policy proposals, like the changes to industrial carbon pricing agreed between Canada and Alberta. The following analysis is based on a relatively new feature of the database, which shows the policies that have fully allocated their funds, concluded, or been suspended or cancelled.

For the first time in years, more policies are ending or have allocated their funding than are being introduced

The latest version of the database suggests that 2025 marked an important shift for Canadian climate policy, as more policies were concluded, cancelled, or suspended than entered into force. At the same time, a growing number of policies are also allocating all their funding.

As Figure 1 shows, the number of policies being newly implemented has fallen each year since 2022. At the same time, the number of policies that allocated their funds or were concluded, cancelled or suspended started to grow, exceeding the number of new measures in 2025.

Figure 1

Nearly one-fifth of the policies in the database will have ended or allocated their funding by this year. Of the 359 policies in the database, 38 are marked as “funding allocated,” “concluded,” “cancelled,” or “suspended,” and a further 33 are categorized as “implemented” but were scheduled to end before 2026.

These findings have two important caveats.

Firstly, the numbers above are all approximate. The database is not a precise picture of climate policy, as the landscape is constantly changing and there can be ambiguity around the start and end dates of policies and their status, among other things. However, the numbers shown above are broadly consistent with the picture painted by policy announcements and budget documents, especially in recent years.

Second, it’s not enough to look at the raw numbers. The total number of policies can be a rough indicator of “policy density,” but it doesn’t show the quality of the policy mix, like the emissions that policies cover, the quantity of funding they provide, or whether they overlap in useful (or counterproductive) ways. That’s why it’s also crucial to compare these numbers to the details of the policies themselves—details that are easy to find in our policy database.

Changing spending patterns and the rejection of consumer carbon pricing account for many changes

Two of the most visible recent trends in Canadian climate policy—the removal of consumer carbon pricing policies and the conclusion of subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs)—show up clearly in the database.

Of the 38 policies that the database marks as having allocated their funds or been concluded, cancelled, or suspended, nearly one-third (11) are just two specific types of measure: carbon pricing policies and subsidies for zero-emitting vehicles.

The shrinking number and scale of EV rebates is especially notable. In 2024, there were 10 such programs, while by the end of 2026, only three (the federal, Manitoba, and Quebec incentives) are expected to remain.

The decline of these rebate programs may be symptomatic of a broader change in the policy instruments that governments are using.

At the federal level, the government seems to be transitioning from funding abatement through grants and contributions and toward funding it through tax measures. While a growing number of federal programs have ended or allocated all their funding, since 2021 Canada has announced a series of clean economy investment tax credits and other tax incentives. Federal budget documents suggest that these measures will account for the bulk of decarbonization spending in future.

At the provincial and territorial level, the shrinking number of climate policies may reflect the deprioritization of climate policies in response to fiscal constraints. For example, in the budget speeches of the seven jurisdictions that ended their EV rebates in 2025 or 2026, all referred to economic uncertainty and fiscal challenges, but only the governments of Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories mentioned climate policies.

A smaller number of policies can be effective, but not if key measures are weakened

Policies end for many reasons. Even a broad trend, like the overall decline in the number of climate policies across Canada, could be as much a sign of consolidation as of retrenchment. It is more important to have effective policies than to have many policies.

However, just as the number of climate policies in Canada is falling, there are also signs that crucial policies will be weakened. Though the federal government has introduced new regulations to reduce methane emissions, it is poised to allow provincial regulations that delay these reductions. Saskatchewan is proposing to extend its use of coal to generate electricity, when federal regulations require it to be phased out by 2030. The Clean Electricity Regulations are being loosened. And Canada and Alberta have concluded an agreement that would delay improvements to industrial carbon pricing.

These trends are not compatible with many governments’ stated goals to achieve net zero. If Canada is going to achieve its climate goals with fewer policies, then those policies must be made more effective, not less.

---

Ross Linden-Fraser is a Research Lead at the Canadian Climate Institute.