Module: Emissions & the economy
Where do Canada’s greenhouse gases come from?
Canada emitted 685 Mt CO₂e in 2024, 10.2% below 2005. The national total hides large differences between sectors and between provinces, and which one you look at depends on what you divide by.
- Total, 2024
- 685Mt CO₂e
- Peak was 779 Mt in 2007
- Change since 2005
- −10.2%
- 2030 target is −40% to −45%
- Per person
- 16.6t
- 22 t in 1990
- Per dollar of GDP
- 0.28Mt per $B
- Down from 0.53 in 1990
Sectors: what the economy does shapes what it emits
The inventory assigns every tonne to the economic activity that released it. Switch to the share view to see how the mix has shifted.
Greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector, 1990–2024
Megatonnes of CO₂ equivalent. Select a sector to bring it forward.
Oil and gas and transport are the two largest sectors. Electricity emissions peaked around 2001 and have since fallen by more than half.
How far is the 2030 target?
Falling from 685 Mt to 458 Mt by 2030 means cutting about 38 Mt every year. From 2005 to 2024, emissions fell by about 4.1 Mt a year on average.
Total emissions and the 2030 and 2035 targets
Mt CO₂e. Targets are percentage cuts from the 2005 level of 763 Mt.
- Emissions
- Target, smaller cut
- Target, larger cut
Emissions peaked at 779 Mt in 2007 and were 685 Mt in 2024. Reaching the 2030 target requires falling to between 420 and 458 Mt.
Provinces: totals, per person, or per dollar?
Ontario emits 157.8 Mt and Alberta 260.1 Mt. Per person, Alberta emits 53.2 t and Quebec 8.6 t, a ratio of about 6 to 1.
Emissions by province and territory
Choose a measure. Totals, per-person and per-dollar views tell very different stories. Click a province for its numbers.
Concepts
Exercises
Which sector had the largest absolute decline in emissions between 2005 and 2024? Use the table view to get the exact numbers.
Show a hint
Switch the sector chart to Table and subtract the 2024 row from the 2005 row for each sector.
Check your reasoning
Electricity, from 115.9 Mt to 49.6 Mt (about −66 Mt), mainly from Ontario’s coal phase-out (completed in 2014) and later coal retirements in Alberta.
Rank the provinces by total emissions, then by tonnes per person, then by tonnes per $1 million of GDP. Which provinces move the most between rankings, and why?
Show a hint
Look at small, resource-heavy economies and at large service economies.
Check your reasoning
Saskatchewan jumps up on per-person and per-GDP measures because a small population hosts coal power, potash, agriculture and oil. Ontario drops sharply on per-person terms because a large population shares a low-carbon grid.
If emissions fall at their 2005–2024 average pace, in what year would Canada reach its 2030 target level? What does that tell you about the policy gap?
Show a hint
The average decline is about 4.1 Mt per year. The 2030 target ceiling is 458 Mt.
Check your reasoning
At about 4.1 Mt per year it would take roughly 55 years from 2024, far beyond 2030. Meeting the target requires roughly 9 times the historical pace.
Alberta argues that much of its oil-and-gas emissions are ‘embodied’ in exports consumed elsewhere. Write a short argument for and against assigning those emissions to Alberta for policy purposes.
Check your reasoning
For production accounting: the producing jurisdiction controls the extraction and the methane and combustion at the site, and international agreements are built on it. For consumption accounting: demand drives the emissions and production limits can simply move output elsewhere (leakage). A good answer links this to border carbon adjustments.