Government of Canada Issues Notice on Greenhouse Gas Reporting

On January 28th, the Canada Gazette included a Notice with respect to reporting of greenhouse gases (GHGs) for 2022 and 2023. The reporting threshold is a facility that emits 10,000 tonnes of CO2 or equivalent per year. There are also specific categories for ammonia production and HFCs. While GCCA members are not likely producers of ammonia or HFCs, it is important to note that “industrial product use emissions” contains the following definition: “means releases from the use of a product, in an industrial process, that is not involved in a chemical or physical reaction and does not react in the process. This includes releases from the use of SF6, HFCs and PFCs as cover gases, and the use of HFCs and PFCs in foam blowing. This does not include releases of PFCs and HFCs used in refrigeration, air conditioning, semiconductor production, fire extinguishing, solvents, aerosols and releases of SF6 used in explosion protection, leak detection, electronic applications and fire extinguishing.

The Government of Canada established the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) in 2004 to collect and publish greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions information annually from the largest emitting Canadian facilities. Operators of facilities that meet the criteria specified in the notice are required to submit their information to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) by June 1 of each year. The GHGRP is part of Canada’s ongoing effort to develop, through a collaborative process with provinces and territories, a harmonized and efficient reporting system that will meet the information needs of all levels of government, provide Canadians with reliable and timely information on greenhouse gas emissions and support regulatory initiatives.

This system currently collects data for ECCC’s GHGRP and for British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to support provincial GHG reporting regulations; and for the National Pollutant Release Inventory, its partners and various other partner programs. Facilities that must report to the GHGRP for either the 2022 or 2023 calendar year, or both, and that are subject to the federal Output-Based Pricing System Regulations will report the information required by each program in separate reports through the same reporting system. Facilities that are not subject to these Regulations are still subject to GHGRP reporting. Further information on the GHGRP and step-by-step instructions on how to navigate the SW system are available on the program website.