Greenhouse gases | Canada’s emissions fall to lowest level since 1997

Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell 0.9% in 2023 from the previous year, reaching their lowest level in 27 years (excluding pandemic), preliminary data shows public by Ottawa, Thursday.

The country emitted 694 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO eq.₂) in 2023, i.e. 6 Mt less than the 700 Mt in 2022.

This is the first time since 1997, the year of the Kyoto Protocol, that Canadian emissions are below the 700 Mt mark (excluding pandemic), although the Protocol provided for a drop of at least 5% in emissions before 2012, compared to their 1990 level.

Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, and now uses the 2005 base year to calculate its emissions reduction target.

The drop recorded in 2023 places Canada’s GHG emissions at 8.5% below their 2005 level, while projections made during the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 predicted an increase in emissions. Canada’s emissions by 9% by 2030.

“Today’s data confirms that Canada is succeeding in reversing the trend,” said Hermine Landry, press secretary to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault.

This reduction, however, remains far from the new Canadian objective, announced on December 12, which aims to reduce its emissions by 45 to 50% by 2035.

Heating and transportation

Transportation and “stationary combustion sources”, which include electricity production and heating, are responsible for the vast majority of Canada’s GHG emissions, with 195 Mt and 295 Mt respectively, in 2023.

Emissions from stationary combustion sources, however, continue their downward trend, in particular thanks to the gradual abandonment of coal-fired electricity production in the country.

The reduction in emissions from this sector was 5 Mt in 2025, which constitutes the bulk of the total reduction of 6 Mt.

Ottawa also welcomes the reduction in Canada’s “emissions intensity”, i.e. the calculation of the quantity of GHGs based on gross domestic product [PIB]which has decreased by 34% since 2005.

The preliminary data for 2023 does not present a detailed portrait of emissions by province; the complete data will be published in mid-April, in the National Inventory Report that Canada must submit under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

The publication of these data comes after those of Quebec for the year 2022, Tuesday, which showed a drop of 4% in the province’s emissions compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.