Fraser Institute News Release: Ottawa's "Net Zero" emission-reduction plan will cost Canadian workers $8,000 annually by 2050

VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 30, 2025 /CNW/ - The federal government's plan to achieve "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions will result in 254,000 fewer jobs and cost workers $8,000 in lower wages by 2050, all while failing to meet the government's own emission-reduction target, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

"Ottawa's emission-reduction plan will significantly hurt Canada's economy and cost workers money and jobs, but it won't achieve the target they've set because it is infeasible," said Ross McKitrick, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Canada's Path to Net Zero by 2050: Darkness at the End of the Tunnel.

The government's Net Zero by 2050 emission-reduction plan includes: the federal carbon tax, clean fuel standards, and various other GHG-related regulations, such as energy efficiency requirements for buildings, fertilizer restrictions on farms, and electric vehicle mandates.

By 2050, these policies will have imposed significant costs on the Canadian economy and on workers. For example:

• Canada's economy will be 6.2 per cent smaller in 2050 than it would have been without these policies.
• Workers will make $8,000 less annually.
• And there will be 254,000 fewer jobs.

The study also shows that even a carbon tax of $1,200 per tonne (about $2.70 per litre of gas) would not get emissions to zero. Crucially, the study finds that the economically harmful policies can't achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and will only reduce GHG emissions by an estimated 70 per cent of the government's target.

"Despite political rhetoric, Ottawa's emission-reduction policies will impose enormous costs without even meeting the government's target," McKitrick said.

"Especially as the US moves aggressively to unleash its energy sector, Canadian policymakers need to rethink the damage these policies will inflict on Canadians and change course."

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

SOURCE The Fraser Institute

MEDIA CONTACT: Ross McKitrick, Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute, To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact: Drue MacPherson, Media Relations Coordinator, 604-688-0221 ext. 721, [email protected]