On May 27, 2025, His Majesty King Charles III delivered the Speech from the Throne, officially opening the 45th Parliament of Canada. Traditionally read by the Governor General, this unique occasion saw the King himself address Parliament, underscoring the importance of the government's agenda, given heightened focus on U.S.-Canada relations.
The Speech from the Throne serves as a roadmap for the legislative session ahead, outlining the government’s vision, priorities, and strategies. While this year’s speech emphasized themes of economic sovereignty and trade, reducing inter-provincial barriers, and expanding energy capacity, amongst other topics, some commentary on climate policy was made.
As per the objective to reduce everyday costs for Canadians, the speech called to remove the consumer carbon price from Canadian law. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Carney announced that the federal fuel charge - distinct from industrial carbon pricing- would be set to 0$ effective April 1. However, the legislation that enacts this policy remains in place. The proposed removal of the law itself sets a definitive end to what became a highly polarized policy leading up to the election. Industrial carbon pricing remains in place at this time, with Carney reaffirming his commitment to strengthening it as part of his Climate Plan.
Climate change was reiterated as a key challenge facing Canada. This establishes Canada’s acknowledgment of climate change as an urgent issue, contrasting with the U.S’s increasingly dismissive tone with recent repeals of clean energy mandates and funding and scientific findings, amongst other deregulatory items.
Canada’s opportunity to become an ‘energy superpower’ has been cited many times since Carney took office, as a means to reduce reliance on the U.S. and position Canada competitively. The speech referenced this potential and highlighted Carney’s near-term mandate to reduce interprovincial trade barriers and expand both conventional and clean energy. This could spurr greater incentives and investments, such as through clean energy tax credits, as well as reduce administrative barriers and permitting requirements for new energy projects.
While carbon markets and specific climate policies were not specifically called out, when discussing Canada’s energy potential to "unleash areas of new growth", the King highlighted building “an industrial strategy that will make Canada more globally competitive, while fighting climate change." This may include policies such as industrial emitter programs and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAM), which are both key pillars of Carney's climate plan. Globally, CBAM frameworks are gaining traction. The EU’s CBAM policy is set to take effect in 2026, with the UK planning its own for 2027. Despite an overall anti-climate agenda, a U.S. Republican senator has introduced the Foreign Pollution Fee Act. This underscores how trade policy may increasingly be leveraged and intertwined with climate action.
The emphasis on industrial strategies aligns with Carney’s plan to strengthen and harmonize industrial carbon pricing, given its efficacy as a lever to reduce Canada’s emissions. The benchmark is scheduled for a review in 2026, and it is ClearBlue’s expectation that this will see the liberal government acting on their commitment, in line with the sentiment shared in the throne speech. This will put pressure on provinces operating parallel programs to align with the federal benchmark, which may require entities operating under these programs to proactively revisit their strategies.
ClearBlue will continue to monitor this closely and offer insights to help entities navigate regulatory developments.