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Rebate, pause, as Trudeau deflects carbon price burden for rural Canadians

Government says households that use heating oil would save about $250, on average
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Trudeau has announced that the government will double the carbon price rebate for rural Canadians beginning in April 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the government will double the top-up to the carbon price rebate for rural Canadians beginning next April.

Trudeau also says there will be a temporary, three-year pause to carbon pricing measures that are applied to deliveries of heating oil, beginning in two weeks.

A government press release says the change will mean that households that use heating oil would save about $250, on average, at the current rate.

Through a pilot project, low- and median-income households in Atlantic Canada are to receive an upfront payment of $250 if they currently heat their homes with oil but sign up for a heat pump through a joint federal-provincial government program.

The amount of federal funding that eligible homeowners can receive for the installation of a heat pump, which the government says can save households save some $2,500 on their energy bills, is also going up.

Trudeau says it means that lower-income households will be able to get an average heat pump for free.

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