Canadians only have months left to get Carbon Rebate from past tax years
Even though the carbon tax rebate is no more, Canadians who haven’t filed past tax returns could still receive a payment, but they’re running out of time.
Prime Minister Mark Carney officially scrapped the consumer carbon tax on April 1, 2025. The carbon rebate, formerly known as theĀ Canada Climate Action Incentive Payment (CAIP), is a quarterly, tax-free amount to help eligible individuals and families offset the cost of federal pollution pricing.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) issued the final payment on April 22 to eligible Canadians who filed their 2024 tax return.
If you missed claiming the carbon tax rebate or didn’t file your taxes from prior years, you may have missed out on more than $1,000 in government payments each year.
Luckily, Ottawa is giving eligible Canadians time to catch up and file prior tax returns in order to receive the rebate. According to the 2025 Budget, you’ll have until Oct. 30, 2026, to file your returns to get the payment.
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Who’s eligible for the carbon tax rebate?
The federal government put a price on pollution in provinces that don’t have their own carbon pricing system.
Canadians in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario can still file a tax return for prior years to receive the carbon rebate.
To be eligible, residents in those provinces must be at least 19 years old in the month before the CRA makes a payment.
If you are under 19 years old, the government says you must meet at least one of the following conditions to be eligible:
- You have (or had) a spouse or common-law partner
- You are (or were) a parent and live (or lived) with your child
If you have kids and they’re already registered for the Canada Child Benefit or the GST credit, a credit for each eligible child will be included in the calculation of the CCR.
Your child is eligible if all of the following conditions are met at the beginning of the payment month:
- Your child is under 19 years of age
- Your child lives with you
- You are primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of your child
- Your child is registered for the CCR (or already registered for the CCB or GST/HST credit)
If you live in a province or territory with its own pollution pricing system, you do not qualify for the carbon tax rebate. This includes the Yukon, Quebec, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia.
Which tax years are still eligible for the payment?
The rebate was available to eligible individuals who filed their taxes for the applicable years: 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
āIf you were eligible but you have not yet filed your tax return for 2024, 2023, 2022, or 2021, you are still able to receive your payments once your tax returns are assessed,ā reads theĀ CRAās site.
Once you file your return for the applicable year, the carbon tax rebate payment amount you’ll receive depends on the tax year. You can find the base amounts on the CRA site.