Cap Canada's Oil & Gas Pollution

Over two years, people in Canada have taken 142,128 actions and counting to call for a strong cap on oil and gas emissions.

That’s 142,128 times Canadians from coast to coast to coast have taken time out of their day — whether it’s a minute or two to sign a petition; half an hour to pen a letter to their MP or Prime Minister Trudeau or their local paper; an entire day or week to organize a meeting with their MP or coordinate and attend a rally at their office; or countless hours at phone banks, patching concerned citizens through to their representatives to urge them to champion this all-important policy.

People in Canada care deeply about the emissions cap — our best shot at meeting Canada’s climate targets and curbing the emissions that have caused the devastating climate impacts felt all this summer.

Polling shows that 7 in 10 Canadians want the emissions cap to ensure that the oil and gas industry takes on its fair share of the climate effort. Two new studies found a majority of people in Alberta support an emissions cap.

And more than 250 organizations representing millions of people across Canada and in 30 countries around the world have thrown their support behind the emissions cap, and are watching to make sure decision-makers follow through.

The message to MPs is clear: your constituents want an emissions cap that makes the country’s biggest polluters do their fair share. Delivering this should be the first order of business as you return to Parliament. Canadians will not tolerate any more delays or caving to industry lobbying.

Back in November 2021, Prime Minister Trudeau made international headlines for announcing a bold new policy his government was introducing: a hard cap on oil and gas emissions in Canada.

“We’ll cap oil and gas sector emissions today and ensure they decrease tomorrow at a pace and scale needed to reach net-zero by 2050,”said Trudeau during his two-minute speech in front of other world leaders gathered in Scotland at the 26th Conference of Parties to discuss action on climate change.

Fast forward to September 2023: the policy to cap oil and gas emissions is nowhere to be seen, with Environment and Climate Change Minister Guilbeault announcing delay after delay amidst industry pushback.

Science is on the side of a hard cap on oil and gas emissions. People who have lost their homes and watched their communities burn want a hard cap on oil and gas emissions.

Back in November 2021, Prime Minister Trudeau made international headlines for announcing a bold new policy his government was introducing: a hard cap on oil and gas emissions in Canada. “We’ll cap oil and gas sector emissions today and ensure they decrease tomorrow at a pace and scale needed to reach net-zero by 2050,”said Trudeau during his two-minute speech in front of other world leaders gathered in Scotland at the 26th Conference of Parties to discuss action on climate change. Fast forward to September 2023: the policy to cap oil and gas emissions is nowhere to be seen, with Environment and Climate Change Minister Guilbeault announcing delay after delay amidst industry pushback. Science is on the side of a hard cap on oil and gas emissions. People who have lost their homes and watched their communities burn want a hard cap on oil and gas emissions.

This is the moment: MPs, will you choose to protect people and the planet, or the profits of oil and gas companies?

What People are Saying

Without a cap and mandated reductions in place, current policies are not stringent enough to drive the emissions reductions necessary for Canada to meet its climate goals, and contribute our share of the solution to the global problem of a heating planet.

The writing is on the wall for Canada’s fossil-fuel industry. Ottawa’s job is to ensure that the inevitable transition is as smooth as possible. This requires sending a clear signal to the industry to clean up its pollution. An airtight cap on emissions from the oil and gas industry is a crucial first step.

Despite an apparent commitment to reduce global warming, the Liberal government continues to bolster profitability for the oil and gas sector. Taxpayers should not be financing subsidies to assist oil and gas companies to lower emissions when they are making record breaking profits. A government which puts a cap on oil and gas emissions and invests in renewable energy resources will have my vote.

Oil companies have had years to transform their operations and reduce their emissions but haven’t, and their emissions continue to increase. This clearly shows the fossil fuel industries have no intention to work with the people of the globe to turn back the doomsday clock. It is time for a cap on emissions, no more subsidies and investments in renewable energies before it's too late.

I am concerned about the future for my children, future generations and the animals of our planet. The oil and gas industry has made an awful lot of money, through profits and subsidies. They should not be allowed to mislead the public about how "green" they are and the effort they are making. Their business will continue as usual unless they have to put a cap on their emissions. I am a 58 year old Grade 4/5 teacher and I worry about the future for the amazing children I am teaching."

"I am a retired teacher who has lived in Calgary all of my life. The oil and gas sector has been a valuable resource but now we need to look at how to make critical climate targets to reduce our emissions. There are other valuable ways of creating energy and Alberta could be introducing them but only seems to support the fossil fuel energy... There needs to be a cap on emissions from oil and gas [so we can] leave our children a legacy on climate change."

"Since I immigrated to Canada in 1988 I have lived in three different towns. All have experienced the effects of climate change first hand. 1) Abbotsford - Devastating floods in 2021. 2) Whistler - had to remove Horstman T-Bar due to glacier melt in 2020. 3) Pemberton - suffered in 43°C temperatures in the heat dome of 2021. The oil and gas sector is the largest and fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, so we can’t meet our critical climate targets without reducing these emissions."

I am a father of two children and a future grandfather. We must reach a future of reducing green house gas emissions much sooner than later. Financing a sector with continuing record profits and that increasingly poisons our air and planet is unconscionable. These supports must be moved to the renewable energy sectors without delay. These sectors hold not only the jobs of the future, but increasingly contribute to job growth now. Now is the time to act and put a cap on emissions.

I'm an Inuk student from Nunavik living in Montreal QC, and I'm terrified of what my future holds.... The Koksoak river froze over completely by end of October in my moms childhood, then by the end of November in my experience, but last year it was only safe to cross in the last weeks of December. I fear the winter that it won't be safe to cross, and that a key part of my culture will be lost.... I urge the leaders of this country to take our global crisis seriously, to listen to the experts that will save not only my world, but theirs too.

I'm writing as a mother and psychotherapist with concerns for my children and the vulnerable people I support... My kids, my clients, all Canadians, need the reassurance that climate chaos and the ensuing social chaos won't overtake them. The federal government must put a cap on emissions from oil and gas and invest in renewables. This must be Trudeau's legacy!

I'm a mother of three teenagers, and like many people all over the world, I'm increasingly concerned about climate change. Canada is positioned to have a meaningful impact by capping emissions from the oil and gas sector. Oil companies have shown that they will not reduce their emissions on their own. No matter what they say, they are not doing their part and continue to rake in record profits at our expense and the planet's expense.... We all need to speak up and demand change. Renewable energy is our way forward, time for the federal government to put a strong cap on oil and gas emissions.