The Government of Canada last fall announced the list of provinces and territories that will be subject to the federal carbon pricing system. Part 1 of the federal system (the fuel charge) is scheduled to apply in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick  beginning April 1, 2019, and in Nunavut and Yukon beginning July 1, 2019.

This means interjurisdictional carriers who travel to any of those provinces will need to register with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by those dates.

On November 20, 2018, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) hosted a national webinar on the proposed federal fuel charge registration system for road carriers, which was the first and only outreach initiative to date for the trucking industry. Following the event, a number of questions and concerns were raised by carriers about the proposed system. These concerns and questions were then collected by CTA and communicate to various departments on December 3, 2018 via correspondence set on behalf of the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

In the correspondence, CTA noted a number of serious issues relating primarily to the potential for double taxation, ensuring a level playing field with the industry’s international competition, and the need for the federal government to prepare guidance materials and to conduct a proper education/outreach initiative in our sector. To date, CTA has not received a response to our concerns.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) – who is in charge of the registration system – however, has recently released additional details on their website – https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/pollution-pricing.html

As CTA noted in its correspondence, “CTA cannot support the implementation of a road transport registration system administered by CRA until the government can show it is ready to administer it effectively, provide industry the proper guidance for compliance, and ensure a level playing field with foreign based competitors” among other concerns highlighted.

Despite CTA’s protestations, carriers have a legal obligation to register with CRA. Carriers are encouraged to contact fuelcharge@cra-arc.gc.ca if they have concerns about this system or are unsure how the registration system is to work. Please copy CTA on this e-mail (CRAquestions@cantruck.ca ) when sending CRA your concerns and questions as CTA will continue to press Ottawa to address our industry’s concerns with the registry system.