Canada Emission Reduction Incentives Agency Act

An Act to establish the Canada Emission Reduction Incentives Agency Preamble Recognizing that the reduction or removal of greenhouse gases is necessary to fight climate change and can also result in cleaner air, achieve other environmental objectives and advance the competitiveness and efficiency of Canadian industry; NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: Short title This Act may be cited as the Canada Emission Reduction Incentives Agency Act. Definitions The following definitions apply in this Act. Agency means the Canada Emission Reduction Incentives Agency established by section 4. (Agence) compliance unit[Repealed, 2023, c. 26, s. 623] eligible credit means an eligible domestic credit or an eligible Kyoto unit. (crédit admissible) eligible domestic credit means a compliance unit that is of an eligible class designated by order made under paragraph 3(a). (crédit national admissible) eligible Kyoto unit means any compliance unit within the meaning of the Kyoto Protocol that is of an eligible class designated by order made under paragraph 3(b). (unité Kyoto admissible) greenhouse gas means any gas listed in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol. (gaz à effet de serre) Kyoto Protocol means the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change done at Kyoto on December 11, 1997, and includes any decision related to the implementation of that protocol taken by the “Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol”, within the meaning of that protocol. (Protocole de Kyoto) Minister means the Minister of the Environment. (ministre) Interpretation For greater certainty, nothing in this Act limits or affects, expressly or implicitly, the power of a province to provide incentives for the reduction or removal of greenhouse gases through the acquisition, on behalf of the province, before or after they are created, of eligible credits created as a result of the reduction or removal of those gases by any means established by the province. Designations The Minister may, for the purposes of this Act, by order, designate as an eligible class for the purposes of the definition eligible domestic credit in section 2, any class of compliance units issued under any program or measure established under section 322 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; and as an eligible class for the purposes of the definition eligible Kyoto unit in section 2, any class of compliance unit within the meaning of the Kyoto Protocol. Establishment There is established a body corporate called the Canada Emission Reduction Incentives Agency, which may exercise powers only as an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada. Climate Fund The expression “Climate Fund” may be used to refer to the Agency. Minister responsible The Minister is responsible for and has the overall direction of the Agency. Ministerial direction The Agency must comply with any general or special direction given by the Minister with reference to the carrying out of its object. Minister’s power of inquiry The Minister may inquire into any activity of the Agency and has access to any information under the Agency’s control. Delegation by Minister The Minister may delegate to any person any power, duty or function conferred on the Minister under this Act, except the power to make orders under section 3 and regulations under subsection 18(2) and the power to delegate under this subsection. Object The object of the Agency is to provide incentives for the reduction or removal of greenhouses gases through the acquisition, on behalf of the Government of Canada, of eligible credits created as a result of the reduction or removal of those gases. Appointment of President The Governor in Council shall appoint a President of the Agency to hold office during pleasure for a renewable term of up to five years. President’s powers The President is chief executive officer of the Agency and has supervision over and direction of its work and staff. Delegation by President The President may delegate to any person any power, duty or function conferred on the President under this Act. Remuneration The President is to be paid the remuneration that is fixed by the Governor in Council. Head office The head office of the Agency is to be at the place in Canada that is designated by the Governor in Council. Appointment of members The Governor in Council shall appoint an advisory board of not more than 12 members to hold office during pleasure for a term of not more than three years, which term may be renewed for one or more further terms. Role of advisory board The role of the advisory board is to advise the Minister on any matter within the object of the Agency, including the types of projects that are most likely to result in significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and advance the competitiveness and efficiency of Canadian industry; and market conditions relating to eligible domestic credits and eligible Kyoto units. Representation The Governor in Council may appoint any person with relevant knowledge or expertise to the advisory board, including persons from the agriculture, energy and forest sectors, environmental groups or provincial or municipal governments, and persons with knowledge or expertise in the markets for domestic and international credits relating to reductions or removals of greenhouse gases. Publication The Minister shall publish the advice given under subsection (2) within 30 days after receiving it from the advisory board. Chairperson The Minister shall appoint one of the members as Chairperson of the advisory board. The members of the advisory board are to be paid, in connection with their work for the advisory board, the remuneration that may be fixed by the Governor in Council. Travel, living and other expenses The members of the advisory board are entitled to be reimbursed, in accordance with Treasury Board directives, the travel, living and other expenses incurred in connection with their work for the advisory board while absent from their ordinary place of residence. Meetings The Chairperson may determine the times and places at which the advisory board will meet, but it must meet at least four times a year. Employees The employees that are necessary for the proper conduct of the work of the Agency are to be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act. Contracts and agreements The Agency may enter into contracts and other agreements with any person in Canada or elsewhere, or with any organization or government, including an international organization or the government of a foreign state, in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada or in its own name. Legal proceedings Actions, suits or other legal proceedings in respect of any right or obligation acquired or incurred by the Agency, whether in its own name or in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada, may be brought or taken by or against the Agency in the name of the Agency in any court that would have jurisdiction if the Agency were not an agent of Her Majesty. Procurement process The Agency has the authority to acquire eligible credits through its own procurement process despite any provision of any other Act of Parliament. Competitive process — eligible domestic credits The Agency must use a competitive process to acquire eligible domestic credits to ensure the cost-effectiveness of the acquisition. Competitive process — eligible Kyoto units The Agency must use a competitive process to acquire eligible Kyoto units and must be satisfied that the acquisition of those units is of benefit to Canada, taking into account the factors specified in the regulations. Regulations The Minister may make regulations specifying factors for the purposes of subsection (1). Advance payment for eligible domestic credits The Agency may, with the approval of the Treasury Board, make payments to acquire eligible domestic credits before they are created if the Agency exercises due diligence and the credits are to be created in relation to a project that meets criteria established by the Minister; the Minister is satisfied that it is reasonable to expect that the project will result in reductions or removals of greenhouse gases in the amounts anticipated in the agreement relating to the acquisition; and the agreement relating to the acquisition contains a provision requiring the repayment of the proportion of the amounts advanced for which no credits are received by the Agency. Credits may be in relation to less than anticipated total If the Agency makes payments to acquire eligible domestic credits before they are created, the amount of reductions or removals of greenhouse gases related to the credits being acquired may be less than or equal to the total amount of reductions or removals of greenhouse gases anticipated from the project for which the credits are created. Credits to be recorded After acquiring eligible credits in its own name, the Agency must, without delay, take the steps necessary to have them recorded in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada in any database designated by the Minister. Contracts with Her Majesty The Agency may enter into contracts, agreements or other arrangements with Her Majesty as if it were not an agent of Her Majesty. Accident compensation The President and the members of the advisory board are deemed to be employees for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act. Corporate business plan As soon as possible after the Agency is established and every year after that, the Agency must submit a corporate business plan to the Minister for approval and the Minister must cause a copy of the plan to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Minister approves the plan. Contents of corporate business plan The corporate business plan must include a statement of the Agency’s objectives for the next five years; the strategies that the Agency intends to use to achieve its objectives, including operational, financial and human resource strategies; the Agency’s expected performance over that period; and the Agency’s operating and capital budgets for each year of that period. Annual audit The Auditor General of Canada is the auditor for the Agency and must annually audit and provide an opinion to the Agency and the Minister on the financial statements of the Agency; and provide the Minister and the President with copies of reports of audits carried out under this section. Annual report The Agency must, before December 31 of each year following the Agency’s first full year of operations, submit an annual report on the operations of the Agency for the preceding fiscal year to the Minister, and the Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives it. Form and contents The annual report must include the financial statements of the Agency, prepared in accordance with accounting principles consistent with those applied in preparing the Public Accounts referred to in section 64 of the Financial Administration Act, and the Auditor General of Canada’s opinion on them; information about the Agency’s performance with respect to the objectives established in the corporate business plan; and any other information that the Minister may require to be included in it.