Updated: 2023-03-03
Climate Action Incentive (CAI) payments are designed to return the proceeds from the fuel charge to residents of the provinces who use the federal system of carbon pollution pricing.
CAI payments apply to the following provinces for the following years:
| Alberta | 2020 onward (tax returns for 2019 and later) |
|---|---|
| Manitoba | 2019 onward (tax returns for 2018 and later) |
| New Brunswick | 2019 only (2018 tax returns only) |
| Ontario | 2019 onward (tax returns for 2018 and later) |
| Saskatchewan | 2019 onward (tax returns for 2018 and later) |
For 2018 through 2020 tax returns, residents of those provinces applied for the CAI as a refundable tax credit on Schedule 14 when preparing their T1 personal tax return. TaxCycle T1 calculated and optimized these payments.
For 2021 tax returns and onward, the government is changing the program to deliver payments on a quarterly basis. CAI payments will be delivered at the beginning of each quarter. Payments will start in July 2022 with a “double-up” payment. This payment would return proceeds from the first two quarters of the 2022-23 fuel charge year (April 2022 to March 2023). The CRA will determine the actual payments for each quarter based on the information they have on file at the time.
For the most recent information see the CRA page Climate action incentive payment.
A list of the CAI payment amounts for 2022-23 appears in this report from the Department of Finance.
A supplementary amount will be provided for eligible individuals and families residing outside a census metropolitan area, as defined by Statistics Canada. This supplement increases the baseline amount by 10%.
For the purpose of the CAI supplement for residents of small and rural communities, individuals must have resided outside of a census metropolitan area (CMA) on December 31 of the tax year, as defined by Statistics Canada in the last census published.
To confirm whether a person lives in a CMA, visit the CRA's page Find out if you qualify for the supplement for residents of small and rural communities or call 1-800-959-8281.
Individuals cannot claim the supplement for residents of small and rural communities if their principal place of residence was located in one of the following CMAs:
If the taxpayer is a resident of one of the applicable provinces, additional questions appear in the Credits section on the Info worksheet. These questions must be completed to determine the eligibility of the taxpayer and spouse to claim the CAI credit.
TaxCycle will automatically display the Climate Action Incentive worksheet (previously Schedule 14) for residents of the applicable provinces (Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan).
For 2018 through 2020 tax returns, Schedule 14 calculates the total CAI and then transfers to line 449 of the T1 jacket. The Optimizations worksheet also includes fields to adjust who claims the CAI in coupled returns.
For 2021 tax returns onward, the Climate Action Incentive worksheet:
