Despite some reforms in recent years, Canada is still the largest provider of subsidies to oil and gas production in the G7 per unit of GDP. This briefing note, Public Cash for Oil and Gas: Mapping federal fiscal support for fossil fuels, looks to shed some light on the remaining subsidies to oil and gas production in Canada and focuses on two specific types of subsidies: direct transfers and fiscal exemptions made available to fossil fuel extraction and production. This work updates past IISD estimates of fossil fuel subsidies and highlights the reforms that have been taken and where more work is needed.
The briefing note’s scope is also limited to the production of fossil fuels; policies that subsidize or incentivize the consumption of fossil fuels in Canada are generally found at the provincial and territorial levels, as opposed to the federal level.