Canadian Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Regulations (SOR/2022-111)

Renewal of Crediting Period

Marginal note:Manner of renewal

• 16 (1) A proponent may request that the Minister renew the crediting period in respect of a project or an aggregation of projects by submitting an application to renew at least nine months but no more than 18 months before the end of the crediting period.

• Marginal note:Information to submit

  (2) The application must include the information referred to in paragraphs 2(d), (f) to (k) and (n) to (s) of Schedule 1 or paragraphs 3(e) to (j) and (m) to (r) and 4(a) of Schedule 2, as the case may be, and any other change to the information referred to in those Schedules since the registration application or the last renewal request, including a description of any measures and monitoring activities implemented following changes to the reversal risk management plan.

• Marginal note:Conditions of renewal

  (3) Subject to subsection 6(4), the Minister must renew the crediting period if the conditions of registration set out in section 8 or 9 are met at the time of the renewal. The Minister must notify the proponent of his decision, including his reasons for that decision, in that regard at least three months before the end of the crediting period.

• Marginal note:Most recent version of protocol

  (4) The most recent version of the protocol applies to the renewal for the purposes of subsections (2) and (3).

• Marginal note:Beginning of new crediting period

  (5) The new crediting period begins on the day after the day on which the most recent crediting period ended.

• Marginal note:Limit on renewals

  (6) The crediting period can be renewed for

  • (a) in the case of a sequestration project related to forestry, a total of no more than 100 years including all renewals; and

  • (b) in the case of all other projects, no more than two times.

General Requirements

Marginal note:Information management system

17 A proponent must implement a data and information management system to collect, manage and store data and information related to their project in a way that ensures the integrity, completeness, accuracy and validity of the data and information.

Marginal note:Measuring devices

18 A proponent must ensure that any measuring device used to determine a quantity that is related to the preparation of a project report is

• (a) installed, operated, maintained and calibrated in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications or the applicable protocol; and

• (b) maintained to be accurate within ± 5%.

Marginal note:Quantification

• 19 (1) A proponent must quantify the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere for the sources, sinks and reservoirs that must be taken into account for the baseline scenario and the project scenario, in accordance with the applicable protocol. For the purposes of the quantification, the applicable global warming potentials set out in Schedule 3 to the Act and the applicable emission factors and reference values set out in the document Emission Factors and Reference Values, published in 2022 by the Department of the Environment, are to be used.

• Marginal note:Exclusion

  (2) Despite subsection (1), GHGs emitted or removed from the atmosphere are not included in the quantification if the GHGs were from sources, sinks and reservoirs that were subject to provincial or federal pricing mechanisms or the emissions or removals from sources, sinks and reservoirs that were required by law or the result of a legal requirement unless, with respect to a source, the quantity of GHGs emitted increased due to the project.

Project Report

Marginal note:Content — sequestration project

• 20 (1) Subject to subsection (3) and (5), a project report submitted by a proponent for a sequestration project must include, the information listed in Schedule 3 as well as the GHG reductions generated by the project — the quantity of tonnes of GHGs that the project prevented from being emitted or that it removed from the atmosphere — expressed in CO₂e tonnes, for each calendar year covered by the report, determined by the following formula:

  (A_i − B_i) C_i

  where

  A_i

  is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the project scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for the calendar year “i”, as set out in the report under paragraph 2(i) of Schedule 3,

  B_i

  is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the baseline scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for the calendar year “i”, as set out in the report under paragraph 2(h) of Schedule 3,

  C_i

  is the value that corresponds to the leakage discount factor, as set out in the report under paragraph 2(g) of Schedule 3, if the protocol requires that the value be applied to the difference between the amount determined for A and the amount determined for B for calendar year “i”, and

  i

  is the i^th calendar year, where “i” goes from 1 to n and where n is the number of calendar years covered by the report.

• Marginal note:Content — Non-sequestration project

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the project report submitted, for a project other than a sequestration project, by the proponent for the period covered by the report must include the information listed in Schedule 3 and the GHG reductions generated by the project, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, for each calendar year covered by the report, determined by the following formula

  (B_i − A_i) C_i

  where

  B_i

  is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the protocol for the baseline scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for calendar year “i”, as set out in the report pursuant paragraph 2(h) of Schedule 3,

  A_i

  is the aggregate of all of the GHG emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the protocol for the project scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for calendar year “i”, as set out in the report pursuant paragraph 2(i) of Schedule 3,

  C_i

  is the value that corresponds to the leakage discount factor, as set out in the report pursuant to paragraph 2(g) of Schedule 3, if the protocol requires that the value be applied to the difference between variable A and variable B for calendar year “i”, and

  i

  is the i^th calendar year, where “i” goes from 1 to n and where n is the number of calendar years covered by the report.

• Marginal note:Aggregation of projects

  (3) With respect to an aggregation of projects, a project report submitted by a proponent must include, the information listed in Schedule 4 and the following information:

  • (a) subject to subsection (5), for an aggregation of sequestration projects, the GHG reductions generated by each project within the aggregation expressed in CO₂e tonnes, for each calendar year covered by the report, determined by the following formula:

    (A_i − B_i) C_i

    where

    A_i

    is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the protocol for the project scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for calendar year “i”, as set out in the report under paragraph 3(g) of Schedule 4,

    B_i

    is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the protocol for the baseline scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for calendar year “i”, as set out in the report under paragraph 3(f) of Schedule 4,

    C_i

    is the value that corresponds to the leakage discount factor, as set out in the report under to paragraph 3(e) of Schedule 4, if the protocol requires that the value be applied to the difference between A and B for calendar year “i”, and

    i

    is the i^th calendar year, where “i” goes from 1 to n and where n is the number of calendar years covered by the report; and

  • (b) for an aggregation of projects, other than an aggregation of sequestration projects, the GHG reductions generated by each project within the aggregation — the quantity of tonnes of GHG prevented from being emitted or removed from the atmosphere — expressed in CO₂e tonnes, for each calendar year covered by the report, determined by the following formula

    (B_i − A_i) C_i

    where

    B_i

    is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the protocol for the baseline scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for calendar year “i”, as set out in the report under paragraph 3(f) of Schedule 4,

    A_i

    is the aggregate of all of the GHGs emitted and the GHGs removed from the atmosphere from the sources, sinks and reservoirs included in the protocol for the project scenario, quantified in accordance with the protocol, for calendar year “i”, as set out in the report under paragraph 3(g) of Schedule 4,

    C_i

    is the value that corresponds to the leakage discount factor, as set out in the report under paragraph 3(e) of Schedule 4, if the protocol requires that the value be applied to the difference between variable A and B for calendar year “i”, and

    i

    is the i^th calendar year, where “i” goes from 1 to n and where n is the number of calendar years covered by the report; and

  • (c) with respect to the aggregation of projects, the sum of the reductions specified in paragraph (a) or (b) for all of the projects in the aggregation by calendar year, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Emissions preceding registration

  (4) For the purposes of subsections (1) to (3), if a project’s start date is before the day it is registered under these Regulations, the GHGs emitted from any source included in the applicable protocol for the project scenario, during the period beginning on the project start date and ending on the day before the day the project is registered, must be included, in accordance with the protocol, in the quantity determined for A.

• Marginal note:Net increase in emissions

  (5) If in the initial project report submitted by the proponent for a sequestration project or an aggregation of sequestration projects, the difference between the quantity determined for A and the quantity determined for B in subsection (1) or paragraph (3)(a) indicates a net increase in GHG emissions that is not caused by a reversal, that increase must be carried forward to the next period covered by a project report in order to be subtracted in accordance with subsection 29(2), from the total reported quantity of GHG reductions generated by the project for the first calendar year covered by the report, and, if the result of the subtraction indicates a net increase in GHG emissions, the same for the subsequent calendar years covered by the report.

• Marginal note:Declaration

  (6) The project report must be accompanied by a declaration, dated and signed by the proponent or their authorized official, stating that the information contained in the report is accurate and complete.

• Marginal note:Report submission

  (7) The project reports, accompanied by verification reports, that must be submitted by the proponent are the following:

  • (a) an initial report with respect to the 12 months following the start of the first crediting period, within 6 months after those 12 months;

  • (b) subsequent reports within 6 months following

    • (i) for sequestration projects, a maximum of 6 years after the end the period covered in the last project report, and

    • (ii) for all other projects, no later than 3 years after the day on which the period covered by the last project report ended; and

  • (c) a final report, within 6 months of the end of the last crediting period.

• Marginal note:Extension of submission deadline

  (8) Despite paragraphs 7(f) and (7)(b), if a reversal occurs within 18 months of the deadline by which a project report must be submitted, the deadline is extended by 6 months after the date the reversal report is submitted.

• Marginal note:Choice with respect to verification

  (9) Despite subsection (7) and paragraphs 7(e) and (f), a proponent of a project other than a sequestration project may choose not to have a project report, other than an initial project report, verified if they opt not to have offset credits issued to them for the reporting period covered by the report.

• Marginal note:No discontinuity

  (10) There can be no discontinuity between the periods covered by the project reports submitted by the proponent.

• Marginal note:Correction of errors or omissions

  (11) If a verifier identifies errors or omissions in a project report during their verification, the proponent must correct those errors or omissions, if possible, and identify those corrections in the project report.

Reversal Risk Management Plan

Marginal note:Establishment of plan

• 21 (1) The proponent of a sequestration project for which the tonne-tonne or hybrid tonne-year quantification method is used must establish, in accordance with the protocol, a reversal risk management plan that identifies and assesses reversal risks associated with the project and describes any measures and monitoring activities to mitigate those risks.

• Marginal note:Implementation of plan

  (2) The proponent of a sequestration project referred to in subsection (1) must implement the reversal risk management plan for the duration of the project’s crediting period and, in the case of a sequestration project for which the tonne-tonne quantification method is used, continue to implement that plan for a period of 100 years following the end of the crediting period.

• Marginal note:Updating the plan

  (3) A proponent may update their reversal risk management plan but must not cease implementing existing reversal risk mitigation measures. The proponent may only add new reversal risk mitigation measures or increase the stringency of existing measures.