Reporting greenhouse gas emissions: questions and answers

The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) collects information from individual facilities relating to their annual greenhouse gas emissions. It was established in March 2004 by Environment and Climate Change Canada under the authority of section 46 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).

The GHGRP is part of Canada’s ongoing effort to develop a harmonized and efficient mandatory greenhouse gas reporting system, in collaboration with the provinces and territories.

Key objectives of the program are:

• to provide Canadians with consistent information on greenhouse gas emissions
• to inform greenhouse gas emission estimates in the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory by industrial sectors
• to support regulatory initiatives of the federal government

Related links:

• Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
• Canada’s official greenhouse gas inventory

The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program tracks emissions from specific sources or activities occurring at the facility, for the following substances:

• carbon dioxide (CO₂)
• methane (CH₄)
• nitrous oxide (N₂O)
• sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆)
• hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
• perfluorocarbons (PFCs)

Both HFCs and PFCs are families of chemical compounds that include many individual gases.

Related links:

• Notice for greenhouse gas reporting, Table 1 (Greenhouse gases subject to mandatory reporting)

The facility data collected under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program supports a number of objectives, including:

• providing Canadians with consistent tracking of information on greenhouse gas emissions from individual facilities
• assisting with regulatory development
• informing the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory submitted annually to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Canada’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory is a comprehensive inventory covering all sources and sinks of greenhouse gases caused by human activity in Canada. The facility data are comparable to the national inventory estimates by industrial sectors.

Related links:

• Canada’s official greenhouse gas inventory

To access the published data on greenhouse gas emissions, you can visit the Canada.ca website or explore Canada’s Open Data portal. You can also search for data by facility, company, National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) or GHGRP identifier with the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data search tool. Through the published notice, the Minister of the Environment indicates the intent to publish the greenhouse gas emission totals by gas and source category, per facility, except for confidential data that is protected under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).

Additionally, provinces and territories can enter into a data-sharing agreement with the federal government to access the complete set of collected data if they meet specific requirements under CEPA. In accordance with their respective provincial or territorial legislation, a copy of the reported data could be made publicly available, subject to terms of provincial or territorial privacy and access to information laws.

Related links:

• Overview report, online search, and interactive maps for published data
• Data published in Canada’s Open Data portal
• Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data search tool
• Further questions about confidentiality

We publish the latest data from the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) online every April. This publication provides an update on the greenhouse gas emissions data that was submitted in the previous calendar year. For example, in April 2024, we will release the data submitted throughout 2023, which consists of emissions data from 2022. This timing aligns with our submission of the National Inventory Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on April 15^th. Additionally, the release of new data each April may include new additions or amendments to the data from previous years. Therefore, the data published every April reflects the most current information reviewed by the Department.

Related links:

• Overview report, online search, and interactive maps for published data
• Data published in Canada’s Open Data portal
• Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data search tool

All facilities that emit 10 000 tonnes per year or more of greenhouse gases, in carbon dioxide equivalent units (CO₂ eq), must submit a report for the calendar year identified in the notice published by the program.

Since 2017, all facilities engaged in carbon capture, transport and storage (CCTS) must submit a report covering their CCTS activities for the calendar year. They must do so regardless of their annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Facilities that do not meet the above conditions may nonetheless report their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Related links:

• Question 84: What is CCTS?

Under what circumstances are multiple physical sites considered to be a single “integrated facility”?

The federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program defines a facility as: an integrated facility, a pipeline transportation system, or offshore installation.

An integrated facility includes all buildings, equipment, structures, on-site transportation machinery, and stationary items that are:

• located on a single site, on multiple sites or between multiple sites
• owned or operated by the same person(s); and
• function as a single integrated site

In some cases, what may constitute an integrated facility can be complex. Therefore, reporters may inquire regarding their particular facility and the Department will consider these on a case-by-case basis.

Typically, several key criteria are considered. If sites are contiguous and owned or operated by the same company, they may be considered as an integrated facility. If sites are not contiguous, yet the multiple sites are dependent upon each other and they share the same activity type (determined by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code), they may also be considered as an integrated facility.

The following examples illustrate the distinction:

• A power plant is one facility
• A company operates several landfills that are not connected to each other and are at different locations. The landfills are considered to be separate facilities
• A company operates a landfill at which greenhouse gases are captured and then used in a nearby power plant. If the power plant is owned or operated by the same company and is contiguous to the landfill, then the landfill and power plant are considered to be one integrated facility. Otherwise, the landfill and power plant are considered to be separate facilities
• A company operates a mine that sends its concentrate streams to a smelter which is owned by the same company. If the smelter is not on a contiguous site, then the mine and smelter are considered to be separate facilities because they are engaged in different activities on separate non-contiguous sites

On average, approximately 1 800 facilities currently report their greenhouse gas emissions to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Industrial facilities that produce electricity, heat or steam on site using fossil fuels would typically emit more than 10 000 tonnes in CO₂ equivalent units of greenhouse gases per year. These could include power generation facilities, integrated steel mills, facilities involved in smelting and refining metals, petroleum refineries, and chemical production facilities. Other operations, such as large landfills and incinerators, could also be subject to this mandatory reporting.

Facilities that do not meet the reporting threshold are encouraged to report voluntarily.

The following examples are given to provide context for the magnitude of this threshold.

A commercial or institutional facility combusting natural gas for heat would meet the threshold if it is described by both of the following:

• it has a combined maximum heat input of 23.8 million kilojoules/hr (22.6 million BTU/hr)
• it operates at full capacity, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, for one year

The production of 50 000 tonnes of nitric acid, assuming an emission factor of 0.68 kg N₂O per tonne nitric acid, would meet the threshold, solely based on industrial process emissions.

The production of ammonia or hydrogen using approximately 2.5 million m³ of natural gas feedstock is likely to meet the threshold, solely based on industrial process emissions.

The combustion of 3.8 million litres of diesel fuel in one year in stationary sources such as diesel generators would meet the threshold.

Related links:

• Question 42: How do I convert to carbon dioxide equivalent units?
• Question 60: How do I calculate greenhouse gas emissions for my facility?

All persons who operate a facility that is subject to the reporting requirements outlined in the notice for greenhouse gas reporting must provide whatever information is required by this notice. Anyone who fails to report, does not meet the submission deadline, or reports faulty information may be contravening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and will be referred to enforcement staff, which may lead to enforcement action.

Related links:

• Notice for greenhouse gas reporting
• CEPA enforcement and compliance

Must reporters obtain verification of their information by third parties? 

Reporters must ensure that the data are accurate when they submit. We review the submitted information and conduct a number of checks for completeness, for compliance with the requirements, and to identify potential errors (for example, significant and unexplained changes in emissions). We may seek clarification from individual facilities where necessary.

Reporters do not have to obtain third-party verification of their submissions. Nevertheless, the information reported for a facility should be verifiable, which means that the reporter must retain any information that would allow the government or a third party to verify the submitted information.

Along with the facility emission report, reporters must also submit a Statement of Certification. It indicates that the information submitted in response to the greenhouse gas reporting requirements is true, accurate, and complete.

Related links:

• Question 34: What is the Statement of Certification?

Yes, facilities with annual emissions falling below the reporting threshold may voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions, and those emissions are included in the published dataset. Voluntary submissions should still meet the reporting requirements as specified in the notices issued under the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

In 2016, Environment and Climate Change Canada proposed changes to expand the annual reporting requirements issued under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. These changes are being implemented in a phased approach. For Phase 1 of the GHGRP expansion, the notice requiring the reporting of 2017 greenhouse gas (GHG) information, published in December 2017, included the changes introduced in this phase. The reporting threshold was lowered to require all facilities emitting 10 kilotonnes or more of GHGs (in carbon dioxide equivalent units) to report. Specific industry sectors were also required to report additional information, using prescribed methods to determine their emissions.

As part of Phase 2 of the GHGRP expansion, the notice requiring the reporting of 2018 GHG information, published in January 2019, included expanded reporting requirements and the use of specific methods for additional sectors/activities.

Phase 1 of the GHGRP expansion started in 2017, and as part of this phase, facilities engaged in carbon capture, transport and storage (CCTS), regardless of their annual greenhouse gas emissions, were required to submit a report covering their CCTS activities for 2017 and for relevant years for the period 2014 to 2016.

Since the 2018 calendar year, CCTS facilities that already submitted a report for 2014 to 2017 are only required to submit a report covering their CCTS activities in the specific year in which they are reporting.

For all other facilities, the new reporting threshold and reporting requirements do not apply to calendar years prior to 2017.

Related links:

• Question 85: What is CCTS?

A number of provinces have regulations that require facilities to monitor and report information on their greenhouse gas emissions, each specifying their own reporting requirements, including reporting thresholds. This includes the provincial governments of Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Most of the provincial reporting thresholds match the federal reporting threshold of 10 000 tonnes. However, these are all governed by their respective provincial regulations which may change over time. It is the facility’s responsibility to understand the various greenhouse gas reporting obligations and to determine whether a greenhouse gas emission report is required to be submitted to the federal and/or provincial jurisdictions. Particular attention should be given to the use of Global Warming Potential (GWP) values that may be required under provincial greenhouse gas reporting obligations in the event they differ from the GWP values used in federal reporting.

The federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program was expanded to meet several objectives. A primary objective is to better integrate the collected facility-level data into the national greenhouse gas inventory, which is submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In some instances, international guidelines specify methods and data requirements over and above what is required by the reporting obligations of provinces and territories.

Furthermore, Environment and Climate Change Canada does not currently have access to the data that facilities are reporting to provincial governments, other than published aggregated totals. While the federal Single Window system provides data collection services for several provinces, the collected data are transferred directly to the respective provinces and cannot be used by the federal jurisdiction.

As of the 2022 calendar year, Environment and Climate Change Canada will no longer allow facilities to upload their provincial greenhouse gas reports in lieu of completing the federal expanded greenhouse gas reporting requirements.

For the 2017 to 2021 calendar years facilities subject to the expanded reporting requirements issued under phases 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program expansion have the option of attaching their provincial reports to their federal submission. This was a provisional option available only to those facilities who report the same or similar data to provincial programs in British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Note that facilities choosing this option must do so in the ECCC reporting application in the Single Window system. A federal GHG report, which may include a provincial report as an attachment, is required. The provincial report attachment/upload is used to provide data to meet expanded reporting requirements only. The facility is still required to enter the general emissions data (i.e. emissions by source category) in the federal report (in Sections A, B and C).

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s processing of provincial reports includes a transfer of the relevant provincial data into the federal GHG report that meet the expanded federal requirements. This is typically followed by a request to the facility to review the amended federal report to validate the transfer of data, make any necessary corrections, provide any missing information and submit the expanded federal report.

Within the ECCC GHG application in the Single Window system, a single report can fulfill both federal and provincial reporting requirements when there is a GHG report type option that includes ‘ECCC & your province’. For example, there are ECCC & AB, ECCC & NB, and ECCC & ON report type options available for facilities in these respective provinces. When this type of reporting option is selected, it means that the facility can submit a single report to both the federal GHGRP and the provincial GHG reporting program. If this report type is either not available or not selected, a report must be submitted to ECCC separately from any report that is submitted to your province/territory. In this case, the report type to select is ECCC only.

A submission to your province only would never constitute a submission to the federal GHGRP.

Related links:

• Question 17

No. The OBPS report is separate from the GHGRP report, although certain emission data are required by both initiatives. A GHGRP report submission is always required if the facility meets the GHGRP reporting criteria. There are also reporting requirements that are unique to each reporting obligation, reflecting the different objectives and scope of the GHGRP and the OBPS.

ECCC has made efforts to align and integrate GHGRP and OBPS reporting where possible and will continue this work to streamline reporting over time. The most recent efforts represent a significant step in alignment between the two programs. On November 22, 2023, the Regulations Amending the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations and the Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (the Amendments) were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. A key change to the OBPS Regulations is the incorporation by reference of the Quantification Methods for the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations (OBPS QM) document. This change will enable improved harmonization of quantification methods for GHG emissions between the OBPS Regulations and the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) over time as quantification methods are updated.

Further, the OBPS reporting application includes an OBPS to GHGRP printout which will guide reporters on how to map similar reporting parameters from the OBPS to the GHGRP report.

Reporters must keep in mind that differences exist in the GHGRP and OBPS reporting requirements that may require different values to be reported to each program (e.g., under the GHGRP, there is no exemption for upstream oil & gas methane venting and leakage emissions). The differences are highlighted in the OBPS to GHGRP printout.

Reporters subject to GHGRP expanded reporting requirements are required to enter data in the activity reporting screens in the GHGRP report. Following completion of these activity reporting screens, a reporter can automatically populate the emission totals (by source category and by gas) found in Sections A, B and C of the report. This reduces the time to complete the GHGRP report, and eliminates the need for any mapping between the GHGRP and OBPS reports.

ECCC has worked with the Government of Alberta to align GHG emission quantification methodologies where possible, and will continue these efforts as new or updated methods are added. A number of methodologies in both the federal and provincial guidance documents are consistent.

To clarify this, Environment and Climate Change Canada has identified in the GHGRP notice and quantification documents the Alberta-specific methodologies that are considered consistent with GHGRP methods and that may be used to report federally and to Alberta. These methods also appear in the shared Single Window reporting application used to submit a combined report to Environment and Climate Change Canada and Alberta.

You can submit your facility's greenhouse gas information to the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program through the federal Single Window (SW) system. The SW system is an online portal for reporting information under specific federal programs and to other agencies and jurisdictions, including:

• National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)
• The federal Output Based Pricing System Regulations (SOR/2019-266)
• Alberta Specified Gas Reporting Regulation (AB Reg 251/2004)
• British Columbia Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulation (BC Reg 272/2009)
• Ontario Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Regulation (O Reg 390/18)
• New Brunswick Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Management for Industrial Emitters in New Brunswick

Within the SW system, the Single Window Information Manager (SWIM) module allows you to enter/edit/update information about your profile, organizations, facilities, and contacts. It is your entry-point into several programs’ reporting modules.

Related links:

• Single Window reporting system
• Instructions for using the Single Window reporting system

The deadline for submitting your annual report to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is June 1^st of the year following the reporting year. If June 1^st falls on a weekend, the deadline for reporting is moved to the Monday. For example, if you are reporting your 2023 data, your deadline would be June 3^rd , 2024, since June 1^st falls on a Saturday. However, it is possible to submit your information prior to this deadline, as the Single Window system begins accepting reports for the latest reporting year starting in March.

Records associated with your report submitted to the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program must be kept for a period of three years from the submission deadline. For example, your report for the 2023 calendar year must be submitted by June 1^st 2024, so any records that are associated with your report must be kept until June 1^st, 2027.

Guidance is available on the reporting requirements and the online reporting tool. As in previous reporting cycles, information sessions will be held on greenhouse gas reporting. Communications will be sent out to facility contacts currently on our distribution list whenever new material is available.

Requests to be added to the distribution list can be sent by email to ges-ghg@canada.ca.

Related links:

• Reporting greenhouse gas emissions data: technical guidance 2022
• Instructions for using the Single Window reporting system

Individual feedback to reporters will not normally be provided unless clarification is needed on specific information that was reported. However, appropriate government authorities will respond to specific requests for information.

Provincial partners using the Single Window System for greenhouse gas reporting include Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick. If you have specific questions about your report that are not mentioned in this document, please see the Contact us section.

Yes, the greenhouse gas reporting requirements apply to all facilities located in Canada, regardless of the nationality of the parent company. However, you would not be required to provide information on the foreign parent company in your report.

D-U-N-S numbers are unique nine-digit identification sequences that provide unique identifiers of single business entities while linking corporate family structures together. The internationally recognized numbering system is developed and maintained by the private firm of D&B (formerly Dun and Bradstreet).

D&B links the D-U-N-S numbers of parents, subsidiaries, headquarters and branches of more than 62 million corporate family members around the world. Used by many standards-setting organizations, the D-U-N-S number is recognized, recommended and/or required by more than 50 global, industry and trade associations, including the United Nations, the U.S. federal government, the Australian government and the European Commission.

If your facility or company does not have a D-U-N-S number, then you are not required to get one in order to submit a greenhouse gas emission report to us.

Related links:

• Dun & Bradstreet: D-U-N-S Number

If operations at a facility are terminated in any calendar year, the last operator of that facility is required to report for the portion of the calendar year during which the facility was in operation (if the facility emissions meet the reporting threshold requirement). The last operator should inform the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program about the status of the facility to avoid further follow-up.

The person operating the facility as of December 31st of the calendar year must report the facility’s greenhouse gas emissions for the entire calendar year (not just the period during which the person operated the facility).

NAICS is an industry classification system developed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to provide common definitions for the three countries’ industries. Your facility’s primary economic activity has a corresponding six-digit code under NAICS, which you must include in your report.

Facilities are required to provide the NAICS code that describes the primary activity occurring at the facility. We also use NAICS to help clarify which industries are subject to the additional reporting and quantification requirements that we have introduced under the expanded federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

In 2022, Statistics Canada updated the list of industries under NAICS, and the Single Window system was also updated to use the NAICS 2022 information for facilities. If you are an existing reporter, the NAICS code that you used in previous years to describe your facility may have changed.

Related links:

• NAICS 2022, version 1.0

How do I enter this information into the report? 

You must report the latitude and longitude coordinates of your facility, unless it is a pipeline transportation system. To provide your facility’s latitude and longitude coordinates, log into the Single Window reporting system and go to the Geographical Address tab for the facility in the Single Window Information Manager (SWIM) module.

The majority of facilities already provide this information to Environment and Climate Change Canada as part of their National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) reports during their first year of reporting. The latitude and longitude information is used to more precisely determine facility locations. It also enhances existing departmental public reporting of facility-level greenhouse gas information (for example, mapping facilities).

Related links:

• Single Window reporting system
• Instructions for using the Single Window reporting system

You are not required to provide latitude and longitude coordinates for your pipeline transportation system. However, you can provide the following information to help pinpoint the location of your facility for us:

• the location of the largest unit in the pipeline transportation system
• the starting and end points of the pipeline transportation system
• a description of the extent of the pipeline system and an indication of nearby cities or towns

Once a location has been selected for the first year of reporting, it is important that it be kept constant for subsequent years (unless it no longer applies).

You must specify your offshore installation’s location in terms of its latitude and longitude coordinates.

A Statement of Certification is a statement or confirmation signed by an authorized signing officer of the reporting company. It indicates that the information submitted in response to the greenhouse gas reporting requirements is true, accurate, and complete.

The Statement of Certification confirms that the reporting company has complied with the reporting requirements for the facility, because a suitable representative of the company attests to all of the following:

1. he or she has reviewed the submitted report and any supporting documents
2. he or she has exercised due diligence to ensure that the information provided is true and complete
3. to the best of the representative’s knowledge, the amounts and values provided in the report are accurate, based on reasonable estimates using available data and appropriate quantification methodology

The Statement of Certification improves the openness, transparency and accountability in the reporting process. This ensures a high degree of public and stakeholder confidence in the integrity of the reporting system and in the results obtained.

The reporting company may designate anyone within its organization to sign the statement, if the designated person meets both of the following:

• he or she has delegated authority to accept legal responsibility for the information provided
• he or she is in a position to knowledgeably attest to the completeness and accuracy of the report for the facility

For example, reporting companies may designate the chief executive officer, the chief environmental officer or the plant manager to certify the report.

The authorized signing officer must electronically certify the greenhouse gas emission report at the time of submission via the online reporting system.

All facilities that meet the reporting criteria under the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program must report their emissions. Similar data are already being collected and made publicly available by provincial governments, including Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

However, the emissions are published in an aggregated format, grouping them by facility, source category and greenhouse gas. Furthermore, the federal program has confidentiality procedures in place, which allow reporters to request that portions of the submitted information be kept confidential.

The information is being collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada, under the authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). Through the published notice, the Minister of the Environment indicates the intent to publish the greenhouse gas emission totals by gas, by source category and by facility, except for confidential data that is protected under CEPA.

Reporters will be afforded an opportunity to request that the provided information be treated as confidential and that it therefore not be published. If the Minister determines that at least one of the reasons listed in section 52 of CEPA applies to the information for which your confidentiality request has been submitted, then the Minister would only be authorized to publish the information under the public interest exemption found in subsection 53(3) of CEPA.

If the Minister questions the validity of a confidentiality request, procedures are set out in section 53 of CEPA that allow you to further justify the claims to the Minister and, failing that, to the Federal Court. Once the information is in the custody of Environment and Climate Change Canada, it is subject to the provisions of the federal Privacy Act and the federal Access to Information Act.

Related links:

• Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
• Privacy Act
• Access to Information Act

No, the confidentiality procedures remain the same under the expansion of the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.

Emission totals will be published by gas, by source category and by facility. Integration of the facility data into Canada’s National Inventory Report will be done in a way that maintains the confidentiality of the data, where required. In this way, there will be no change in the level of data published as a result of the program expansion.

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) contains provisions for confidentiality. Under these provisions, a reporter may submit, along with the report, a written request that the provided information be treated as confidential. The request must be based on one or more of the reasons set out in section 52 of CEPA.

During the online reporting process, you will be asked if you are requesting confidentiality for your report under CEPA. A similar question will be asked if there are applicable provincial statutes. If you indicate that you are requesting confidentiality, then you must submit a written request along with justification and supporting documentation to Environment and Climate Change Canada (and the provincial or territorial government, if applicable).

Upload the written request to your online report before submitting the report.

A request for confidentiality applies only to the individual report to which it is attached. If such a request is granted, then confidentiality will apply to its associated report. However, confidentiality will not be automatically applied to reports for subsequent calendar years. This means that you must submit a separate request with each report that you want to be treated as confidential.

Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), you can submit an appeal to the Federal Court to reverse the decision. Per section 53 of CEPA, if your request for confidentiality is denied, Environment and Climate Change Canada will inform you that your submitted data will be published and that you have the option to have the Federal Court review the decision within a 30-day period.

If you do not appeal the decision to the Federal Court, then your information will be published. If you do appeal, your information will be kept confidential while the Federal Court reviews the decision not to grant your confidentiality request.

The CO₂ equivalent of a facility’s greenhouse gas emissions is interpreted as the amount of CO₂ emissions that would be required to produce a global warming effect similar to that caused by your facility’s actual greenhouse gas emissions.

To convert your facility’s emissions to CO₂ equivalent units, multiply the amount of each greenhouse gas (in tonnes of that gas) by its associated global warming potential (GWP). Your facility’s total emissions in CO₂ equivalent units are equal to the sum of those converted amounts.

You must use the Global Warming Potential (GWP) values that we have published in the notice applicable to the year for which you are reporting. As of 2022, these values are the same as those published in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Please note: When GWP values change over the years, reporters are not required to revise their previous reports to reflect the new GWP. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) will update all data to be consistent with the most current GWP, ensuring uniformity and accuracy across all reporting periods.

Related links:

• Notice for greenhouse gas reporting, Table 1 (Greenhouse gases subject to mandatory reporting, and their respective GWP values)
• IPCC Fifth Assessment Report

You are required to report the emissions of each individual greenhouse gas expressed in its actual tonnage. For the example given in the question, you would report 100 tonnes of N₂O.

When assessing whether you must report, convert your facility’s total emissions to CO₂ equivalent units, in order to compare against the reporting threshold.

There is no overall ‘de minimis’ exemption from reporting greenhouse gas emissions from sources that only represent a small proportion of total facility emissions.
However, under the expanded quantification requirements, there are several ‘de minimis’ exemptions within the sections related to fuel combustion, iron and steel production, and base metal production.

Related links:

Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements

‘Flaring’, ‘venting’, and ‘leakage’ are individual source categories that are grouped together under the label ‘fugitive’ (that is, fugitive = flaring + venting + leakage). Venting and flaring emissions result from controlled release of gases, while leakage emissions come from accidental releases and leaks.

Before the 2017 calendar year, the ‘leakage’ emissions source category was called ‘fugitive’ emissions by the program, and the ‘fugitive’ group of source categories was not used. We have changed to the current source category labels to align with those of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Related links:

• Reporting greenhouse gas emissions data: technical guidance 2022

Hydrogen production emissions are categorized as either industrial process or fugitive (venting) emissions, depending on the sector in which the production occurs. In sectors producing fossil fuels (e.g., petroleum refineries, bitumen upgrading), these emissions are allocated to the venting emissions category, while in other industrial sectors, these emissions are allocated to the industrial process emissions category. While it is recognized that these emissions are produced from the same process, the difference in allocation is to maintain alignment with national inventory reporting requirements in accordance with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidance related to international reporting of GHGs. Aside from the difference in allocation, there is no difference in the treatment of these emissions.

Yes, you must report emissions of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O from biomass combustion, but do not include these CO₂ emissions when calculating your facility’s total emissions (do include the CH₄ and N₂O emissions in the total). Emissions of CO₂ from biomass combustion must be reported separately from the facility’s total.

Biomass combustion includes biomass materials burned for any purpose except land clearing. The following materials are all considered to be biomass materials:

• plants or plant materials, animal waste, or any product made of either of these, including wood and wood products, charcoal and agricultural residues
• biologically derived organic matter in municipal and industrial wastes
• landfill gas, bio-alcohols, black liquor, sludge digestion gas, animal-derived oils, and plant-derived oils

Occasionally, tree stumps, branches, twigs and leaves are burned on site as land is cleared. You are not required to report the greenhouse gas emissions from this activity.

You must report emissions of CH₄ or N₂O that result from the decomposition of biomass materials in your facility. However, you are not required to report the CO₂ emissions that result from the decomposition of biomass materials.

These emissions should be reported under the Wastewater source category if the decomposition occurs in a wastewater treatment process. If the decomposition occurs in a waste disposal process, report the emissions under the Waste source category.

No, you are not required to include CO₂ emissions from the fermentation of biomass materials in your facility’s greenhouse emissions.

For example, you are not required to report the CO₂ emissions that result from the fermentation of sugar or converted starch (contained in grains such as corn and wheat) in an ethanol production process that would occur in your facility.

The GHG reporting requirements issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada under its GHG Reporting Program apply to any facility with annual GHG emissions exceeding 10 kilotonnes (in CO₂ equivalent).

For the agriculture sector, the sources of emissions covered by these reporting requirements that would apply to facilities in this sector include fuels burned on-site at the facility in stationary combustion sources (e.g. to heat buildings, barns) and in transportation machinery or equipment (e.g. farming equipment, vehicles not licensed for public roads). The following sources are not covered:

• emissions from enteric fermentation
• manure management
• agricultural soils
• crop residue burning
• application of fertilizers

It is not anticipated that any facilities in the agriculture sector (e.g. farming operations, feedlots) would trigger the 10-kt threshold due to emissions from on-site fuel use.

Standard commercial natural gas is a fossil fuel, so it does not fall into the category of biomass fuels. Therefore, you must report all greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of commercial natural gas and include them in the facility’s total.

Yes, these types of operations fall within our definition of “facility”. You must report for all landfills, incinerators or wastewater treatment plants that annually emit more than 10 000 tonnes in carbon dioxide equivalent units, or that are part of a facility that emits more than 10 000 tonnes in carbon dioxide equivalent units.

Note that these facilities should pay special attention to what constitutes biomass or non-biomass CO₂ emissions. For example, flaring of landfill gas or gas derived from wastewater treatment, assuming these are bio-derived sources, should be categorized as waste or wastewater emissions (CH₄ and N₂O) but the biomass CO₂ emissions are simply categorized as CO₂ from biomass combustion. CO₂ from biomass combustion is not added to the facility total.

You must report emissions from on-site transportation activities that occur in your facility, under the “On-site Transportation” source category of emissions. This category includes the releases from fuel combustion in machinery that is used for transport or movement of the substances, materials, equipment or products that are used in the production process at your facility. It also includes releases from vehicles that are not licensed for use on public roads.

For example, you must report the transport of feed materials (for example, by truck or rail) from their on-site storage location to a specific process unit. On the other hand, you are not required to report a manager’s use of a company vehicle to conduct inspection of activities on the grounds of the facility. Similarly, you are not required to report emissions from transportation to or from the facility (e.g. the delivery of material).

You must report emissions from space heaters that burn fuel in your facility, under the “Stationary Fuel Combustion” source category of emissions.

If the space heaters are burning non-biomass fuels, then their emissions must be included in the facility’s total emissions. If the space heaters burn biomass fuel, then their CO₂ emissions must be reported separately.

Related links:

• Question 48: Do I report emissions from biomass combustion?

If there is a cogeneration unit located on site at your facility and it generates greenhouse gas emissions, these emissions are to be reported. The emissions are to be categorized under Stationary Fuel Combustion. The total greenhouse gas emissions that are generated by the cogeneration unit must be reported, even if some of the resultant energy is exported off site.

If the operator of the cogeneration unit is different from the operator of the overall facility, a separate report must be submitted by the operator of the cogeneration unit (if the reporting threshold is reached).

A pipeline is considered a mode of transport in the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. For reporting purposes, sources of emissions include both:

• point-source emissions associated with stationary combustion (for example, compressors at pipeline installations)
• fugitive emissions along the entire length of the pipeline system (for example, a pipeline transporting natural gas or CO₂)

A natural gas transmission company that has several pipeline operations, or networks within and across several provinces, must:

1. use the provincial boundaries to identify its “pipeline transportation systems”
2. report greenhouse gas emissions for each of these discrete systems

You are not required to report the indirect emissions associated with electricity that was not generated in your facility. For electricity that is generated in your facility, you must report all of the greenhouse gas emissions that result from electricity generation, even if some of the electricity is not used by your facility (for example, sold to the grid).

You must report the CO₂ emissions resulting from natural gas processing, such as sweetening, under the Venting source category of emissions.

If your facility is in the sectors that we identified for the expansion of the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, you must use the methods defined in “Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements.”

Otherwise, you must use methods that are consistent with the guidelines that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 2006. For each emissions value that you report to us, you must indicate whether you have determined it using monitoring or direct measurement, mass balance, emission factors, or engineering estimates. Alternatively, you can use the methods provided in the above noted quantification requirements document that are applicable to the emission sources of your facility’s operation.

Related links:

• Question 63: Do the expanded reporting and quantification requirements apply to me?
• Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements
• 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

The technical guidance document issued by the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will help you determine if you are required to submit a report this year; it also includes technical information on the reporting process and on available methods that meet the requirements. The guidance is typically updated shortly after the notice is published to reflect the changes to the reporting and quantification requirements for the relevant calendar year. For facilities that are subject to the expanded federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requirements, our quantification requirements document describes the methods that you must use.

For other facilities, we do not require you to follow any specific protocols for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. However, the methods that you do use must be consistent with the methodologies that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 2006. For emissions from fuel combustion, a common source of emissions across facilities, you can also use the methods described in Chapter 2 of our quantification requirements document.

Related links:

• Reporting greenhouse gas emissions data: technical guidance 2022
• Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements
• 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

“Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements” contains methods to quantify emissions from certain activities and sectors. These methods must be used by facilities subject to the expanded requirements.

Some of the methods provide tables of default emission factors.  Facilities that are not subject to the expanded reporting requirements can use these emission factors, if they wish. Alternatively, they may consult the latest greenhouse gas inventory report for Canada, which also provides up-to-date emission factors (see Part 2 of the report).

Related links:

• Question 64: Do the expanded reporting and quantification requirements apply to me?
• Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements
• Canada’s official greenhouse gas inventory

Currently, specified quantification methods are available for calculating emissions from fuel combustion (including stationary fuel combustion, on site transportation and flaring); carbon capture, transport and storage (CCTS); and certain industrial processes that occur in identified industry sectors that are subject to the expanded reporting requirements. Quantification methods for other sectors or emission sources will require further testing, assessment, and refinement. For this reason, we expect there to be variations in results as the selected methodologies change from one year to the next.

To mitigate the effects of these variations, reporters are required to keep records of all the submitted information, and the measurements, calculations, and other data upon which it is based. Furthermore, for transparency, reports should provide the reasons why emissions in your facility have changed from one year to the next, including the changes in methods that you have made.

To determine if your facility is subject to the expanded reporting requirements, you should first determine if your facility reports under any of the NAICS codes listed in paragraph 1 (b) of Schedule 3 of the latest GHGRP Notice (also listed below). If yes, you should then determine if the facility undertakes any of the activities listed under paragraph 1(b) of Schedule 3 (also listed below). If both are true, then the facility is subject to expanded reporting and prescribed methodological requirements. In addition, despite the NAICS code, if the facility is engaged in CO₂ capture, transport, injection and storage activities, it is subject to expanded reporting requirements. The majority of activities listed have a corresponding schedule in the Notice which details the reporting requirements. Schedule 7 (Fuel combustion and flaring reporting requirements) of the Notice applies to all facilities involved in the activities listed below.

Related links:

Question 30: What is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)?

You must assign fuel consumption to the actual consumption date, because the reporting requirement is for emissions that occurred in your facility during the calendar year. The data that you use to calculate emissions from your facility must reflect actual fuel consumed during that period.

The reporting system does allow you to input fuel quantities in energy units. However, it is also possible and could be more useful in some cases to use the high heat value (energy conversion factor) that is available from your natural gas supplier to convert your natural gas consumption to volumetric units. If the information provided by the supplier is not in standard temperature and pressure for gaseous fuel, then you must convert the volumetric fuel quantity to standard conditions (cubic meters at 15°C and 101.325 kPa).

Ammonia production facilities are subject to Schedule 13 (ammonia production), as well as Schedule 7 (fuel combustion and flaring), of the Notice for greenhouse gas reporting. They are not subject to the requirements of Schedule 15 (hydrogen production), as emissions associated with hydrogen production are already accounted for in Schedule 13.

For a petroleum refinery that is engaged in hydrogen production, you must report using Schedule 15, of the Notice for greenhouse gas reporting. Petroleum refineries are also subject to the requirements under Schedule 7 (Fuel Combustion and Flaring) and Schedule 16 (Petroleum Refining).

Yes, you can use the methods in the quantification requirements document that are applicable to the emission sources of your facility’s operation. For example, you can use some of the methods described in the fuel combustion section (Chapter 2) if your facility burns fuel to generate energy or useful heat, or if you have on site transportation emissions to report.

Related links:

• Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements

No. If the sum of CO₂ emissions from the combustion of one or more fuels does not exceed 0.5% of your facility’s total CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion, then you do not have to report these fuels or their emissions.

However, you must still report for all other fuels that are combusted in your facility.

No. None of the methods for fuel combustion described in the quantification requirements allow you to use a default higher heating value.

If coal is delivered continuously, you must sample as often as is necessary to capture the variation in carbon content and high heat value of the coal feed (not less than monthly), to ensure a representative annual composition of the coal consumed. You must document the approach used to determine this representative value.

If a facility is subject to expanded reporting requirements, there are non-emissions reporting requirements even if using a CEMS. However, these mandatory reporting requirements, depending on the activities undertaken at the facility, are often different for facilities using CEMS. The majority of reporting schedules contained in the Notice include a paragraph which specifically outlines the mandatory reporting requirements for facilities using a CEMS.

This often occurs when a facility has identified itself in the report as being subject to the Output Based Pricing System Regulations (OBPS) and choosing to use those methods to determine its greenhouse gas emissions for reporting to the GHGRP. If a facility selects ‘Yes’ to this question, this means they are choosing to use methods identified in the OBPS regulations. Since the OBPS regulations often refer to GHGRP methods for specific years (for example, GHGRP 2017 methods), those are the methods that are expected in the reporting system if you have chosen this option. Please ensure you are referring to the Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements document for the year specified in the OBPS regulations as equation numbers may vary in subsequent years.

Coke oven battery emissions are considered either Stationary Fuel Combustion or Flaring emissions when reporting these emissions under the emission source categories required by the GHGRP. Iron and steel production facilities are first required to report coke oven battery emissions in either the expanded Fuel Combustion or Iron and Steel activity screens in Single Window. After the required data and emissions are entered in these screens, you should use the ‘Load Activity Emissions into Section A, B & C’ button in Section A of the report. This will populate the source category data fields accordingly.  We recommend that you ensure these totals are correct. In some cases, it is possible that the coke oven battery emissions are entirely allocated to Stationary Fuel Combustion where, in fact, some emissions were flared. In this case, you may adjust those totals accordingly and leave a comment in the report, explaining how you adjusted them.

Only facilities that are classified under NAICS 221112 are required to report electricity generation by each electricity generating unit. All other facilities subject to the expanded requirements are required to report electricity generation by facility. Refer to Schedule 7 in the latest Notice for greenhouse gas reporting for further details with regard to the expanded reporting requirements.

The biomass emission factors originally published by ECCC required a correction to appropriately account for the moisture content of these fuels in 2018. The Department has further refined these factors in close consultation with the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) in 2019.

No, for gaseous fuel, you must indicate the temperature and pressure corresponding to the reported fuel quantity. Availability of this data improves the transparency of the reporting process, and helps ensure that standardization of fuel quantities is done consistently.

If you are unable to determine the actual quantity of fuel used for each purpose, you may allocate emissions according to the ratio of generated electricity (in megajoules) to generated heat (in megajoules).

No. This is a requirement only for facilities that report under NAICS 221112. The reporting system, however, is set up to accept reporting for each unit. In this situation, you may simply report all electricity generation and associated emissions under a single unit, whether there are multiple units or not.

There is now an additional field added to the reporting system for these situations. For these particular units/turbines, if they in fact do not generate greenhouse gas emissions, do not enter their information where you would enter the information for the other units/turbines as that electricity generation section requires input of fuel and emissions data. Instead, near the bottom of the fuel combustion reporting screen, there is a section for ‘Electricity Information’, which includes a field for ‘Additional electricity generated on-site’. This is where you may enter the electricity generated for these units/turbines. It is also encouraged to include a comment in your report to inform the program of the set up at the facility.

No. In the case of blended fuels, it is the responsibility of the facility to report each fuel type separately. When purchasing fuels, ensure that you obtain the fuel blend from the supplier so that you may accurately separate and calculate emissions by fuel type for reporting purposes. This will then ensure that you not only report volumes and emissions accurately by fuel type, but also by biomass or non-biomass CO₂. Note that biomass CO₂ emissions, while required to be reported, are not added to the facility total emissions.

Related links:

• Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Quantification Requirements

A CO₂ carbon capture, transport and storage facility (CCTS system) consists of some, or all, of the following components:

• CO₂ capture includes all infrastructures, equipment and process modifications designed to capture otherwise vented CO₂ emissions.
• CO₂ transport includes the transport of CO₂ by pipeline, or other system, used to transport CO₂, within Canada, from the capture facility to the injection facility.
• CO₂ storage is a long-term geological storage facility. This includes sites injecting CO₂ both directly into deep saline aquifers and into enhanced fossil fuel recovery operations, with the final goal of long-term storage.

Yes, you must report for your CCTS facility regardless of its total annual emissions. Required reporting for such a facility is listed under Schedule 6 of the Notice. If the facility’s total emissions are below the reporting threshold, then the facility is only subject to reporting under Schedule 6 and does not have to report the emissions data required under Schedule 5. In the reporting system, you can complete your reporting for this type of situation by selecting N/A throughout the sections that collect Schedule 5 data and providing a comment at the end of the report to notify the program.

If you have been operating a Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage (CCTS) facility but have not yet submitted any reports, you are required to submit retroactive reports for each year of operation starting from 2014 onwards. This means you need to report your facility’s annual greenhouse gas emissions and other relevant information related to your CCTS activities for each calendar year from 2014 to the present. Additionally, for any non-CCTS activities that occurred in your facility during these years, you must adhere to the reporting requirements that were in effect for each respective year. Since 2018, there have been no changes to the retroactive reporting requirements for CCTS activities, so you should follow the Notice applicable to each year you are reporting for.

You must report for the quantities of injected CO₂ along with fugitive emissions from associated injection equipment, CO₂ transport network, and CO₂ losses from the injection site.