OTTAWA—Dale Beugin, Executive Vice President of the Canadian Climate Institute, made the following statement in response to the federal government’s tabling of Budget 2026:
“While Budget 2026 is rooted in economic objectives, it recognizes that climate progress and economic goals can and should be mutually reinforcing. The budget lays out actions and public dollars for clean electricity and electrification. It establishes a broader framework for mapping progress in building a clean economy. In order to mobilize investment and transform goals into reality, the government’s next steps should be to finalize policy details and track progress in concrete terms.
“The budget reiterates the government’s commitment to net zero and defines a new framework for delivering on that goal; tracking progress will be critical. The categories are sound elements of a net zero transition: Building clean electricity, shifting to electricity, transforming energy systems to waste less energy, and innovating and scaling new technologies. This framework broadly aligns with new work the Climate Institute is launching soon on tracking concrete measures of progress toward clean growth. The next challenge will be tracking progress and ensuring the scale and pace of policy is proportional to the change necessary to deliver on net zero.
“The budget rightfully centres clean electricity and electrification as enablers of economic growth, affordability, and net zero. Alongside Budget 2026, the government published its updated National Electricity Strategy. Building on previous announcements, it commits $50 billion to double Canada’s electricity generation and build the transmission needed to connect Canadians and Canadian industries with the power they need. Notably, it proposes expanding eligibility for the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit to high-voltage intra-provincial electricity transmission, addressing critical pressure points identified by our analysis. It also opens the door to developing new financial mechanisms to share costs and risks with interested provinces and territories, reinforcing other policy approaches that can help scale electricity systems while moderating rate pressure.
“Budget 2026 also recognizes that electrification and energy efficiency are essential complements to expanding clean electricity. Proposed investments in deploying heat pumps, expanding charging networks for electric vehicles, and adoption of energy-saving technologies at industrial and manufacturing facilities can help unlock decarbonization while keeping energy costs affordable for consumers.
“The budget also makes some important steps forward on sustainable finance to catalyze private investment. In particular, the budget commits to using the Made-in-Canada sustainable investment guidelines for a new federal Sustainable Bond Framework. The Budget also highlights the Institute’s upcoming Sustainable Finance Conference in February 2027, which will continue to build momentum.
“Budget 2026 misses an opportunity to broadly advance climate preparedness. As the recent landmark federal report on climate impacts made clear, Canada can expect to see a wide range of increasingly severe extreme weather events. Escalating damages can only be lessened through targeted investments and policy changes in adaptation. As our research has consistently shown, funding for adaptation can more than pay for itself over time and help protect communities across the country. The budget does not mention the National Adaptation Strategy.
“Budget 2026 highlights several other important steps forward:
- It expands support for critical mineral supply chains in Canada, helping to grow a nascent source of competitive advantage in the global clean economy.
- It proposes significant new resources for innovation of new, emerging low-carbon technologies. As CCI has noted, achieving net zero will require both deploying “safe bets.” and developing new “wild card” technologies; this support can help unlock the latter.
- It reiterates the importance of robust, certain industrial carbon pricing markets.
- It reiterates that Clean Electricity Regulation will support net zero by 2050.
- It also proposes support for increasing production of water bombers to support fighting wildfires both domestically and internationally.
CONTACT
Krystal Northey (Mountain Time)
Lead, Public Affairs
Canadian Climate Institute
(226) 212-9883
Jaela Bernstien (Eastern Time)
Senior Communications Specialist
Canadian Climate Institute
(226) 212-9883
About the Canadian Climate Institute
The Canadian Climate Institute is Canada’s leading climate change policy research organization. The Institute produces rigorous analysis, economic modelling, and in-depth research focused on incentivizing clean economic growth and low-carbon competitiveness, reducing emissions and accelerating Canada’s net zero energy transition, and making our economy and infrastructure more resilient to a warming climate.
