Overview
- The government’s fiscal update proposes repealing parts of the 2018 Cap and Trade Cancellation Act that require setting emissions targets, producing a climate plan and issuing public progress reports.
- Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the province will focus on outcomes rather than targets, while the environment minister’s office pointed to investments in transit expansion, energy efficiency and nuclear power.
- The Office of the Auditor General reported last month that Ontario is missing its climate goals and failing to meet basic planning and public reporting obligations, noting no new ministerial report since 2021 and a 2022 web update that repeated prior content.
- Government modelling completed in January projected Ontario would fall short of its 2030 emissions target by about 3.5 megatonnes.
- The repeal is likely to affect a youth-led constitutional challenge that hinges on the 2018 law, which the Court of Appeal said created a provincial obligation to address climate change, with new hearings scheduled for early December.