Quebec's emissions dropped in 2022, below pre-pandemic levels

Quebec succeeded in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 below pre-pandemic levels, moving the province closer to reaching its climate targets.

The province was responsible for 79.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022, down 4.1 per cent from 2019, prior to the pandemic slowdown. 

Overall, thanks largely to its abundance of hydroelectricity, Quebec ranks first among Canadian provinces and territories, as well as U.S. states, when it comes to per capita emissions, according to the province's annual climate update on Tuesday.

"It's quite encouraging," Environment Minister Benoit Charette said at a news conference.

"It means our measures are working. There's still a lot of work to be done but we're frankly moving in the right direction."

Emissions went down in nearly every sector, including transportation, which remains the largest source of emissions in Quebec.

In real terms, the province reduced its emissions by 7.2 per cent compared with 1990 levels.

The rest of the gains were made by purchasing carbon credits from California through its shared cap-and-trade system, bringing the total reductions to roughly 19 per cent below 1990 levels.

Quebec's goal is to reduce its emissions by 37.5 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2030.

Daniel Breton, a former provincial environment minister, cautioned that Quebec's carbon credit purchases suggest the province is essentially buying its way toward reaching its emissions goals.

"I doubt that we can reach our targets with the efforts that the government has done so far. I think it's getting better, but we have to do a lot more," said Breton, who is now the head of Electric Mobility Canada, an industry group advocating for more support for electric vehicles.

The province has tried to scale back the number of gas-powered vehicles on the road by offering consumers a subsidy when buying an electric vehicle or installing a charging station.

But those incentives were put on pause through April 1, 2025, the government announced Tuesday, due to a lack of funds.

"The first source of [greenhouse gas] emissions in Quebec is transportation. So if they said we will suspend the fund for a couple of months so that we can invest in transit or something else, it'd be a different story. But that's not where we are," he said.