The NDP government will give Alberta greenhouse operators a break on the carbon tax when it takes effect on Jan. 1.
The province has confirmed to News Talk 770 that Rachel Notley’s administration will introduce a greenhouse grower’s rebate in the new year. An official announcement is expected on Saturday.
The rebate will allow operators to recoup up to 80 per cent of the carbon levy. The province says this should bring them in line with similar programs in other jursdictions, like British Columbia.
Watch below from Nov. 11: The Alberta Greenhouse Growers Association wants a rebate or exemption from the provincial carbon tax that comes into effect on Jan. 1, 2017. The industry employs over 4,000 people and it’s expected the levy will cost growers of flowers, trees and vegetables a total of four to five million dollars. Global’s Kris Laudien reports.
Greenhouse owners had been worried the levy would result in a big hit to their bottom line, leading to an increase in imported produce and the loss of some greenhouses.
In mid-December, one such family-owned greenhouse southeast of Calgary shuttered its doors for good, citing cost pressures created by the government’s new labour and climate policies.
The carbon tax will begin at a rate of $20 per tonne on Jan. 1 and a year later will increase to $30 per tonne.
Watch below: Calgary-area farm family blames closure of their greenhouse on Bill 6, minimum wage, carbon tax pressure. Mia Sosiak reports.
With files from Brenda Neufeld