Big benefit cheques expected today for many Ontario residents

Many Ontario residents can expect the first Ontario carbon tax rebate from the Canadian government today.

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The Climate Action Incentive payment, sometimes called the Ontario carbon tax rebate, is scheduled to arrive today (Jan. 15).

People living in provinces where the federal fuel charge applies will receive their first pollution pricing rebate of the year through direct bank deposit or by cheque, according to a press release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Proceeds from the federal pollution price are returned to the jurisdiction from which they were collected to help with cost-of-living challenges while keeping the incentive to pollute less, the release states.

“Canadians will start noticing payments arriving in their bank accounts and mailboxes starting Monday,” said Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

In Ontario, an eligible family of four will receive $244.

A single adult should receive $122, the second adult would add $61, plus $30.50 for each child in a family.

To be eligible, Ontario residents must file a tax return.

The rebate payments are the other half of the carbon pollution pricing system, with eight out of 10 families actually getting more back than they pay, Guilbeault added.

“Rebate payments are helping families with the higher cost of living, alongside a range of other programs introduced by our government, like the Canada Child Benefit, child care, grocery rebates, dental and rental support, and more,” he said.

In provinces where the federal pollution price applies, 90 per cent of pollution pricing proceeds is returned directly to households through pollution price rebate payments, the release states. The other 10 percent is used to support small- and medium-sized enterprises, Indigenous groups, and farmers.

Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan residents also receive the benefit.

The payments arrive four times a year. The next dates for 2024 are April 15, July 15 and Oct. 15.

For more information, see the release here.