Overview of Canada’s Greenhouse gas emissions (1990–2024)

As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, Canada is required to prepare an annual national inventory of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by sources and removals by sinks, by April 15 every year. The following represents national-level GHG emissions information from the 2026 edition of Canada’s National Inventory Report (NIR). For any questions, contact us at enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca.

Figure 1: Canada's GHG emissions, 1990-2024 (Excluding Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry)

Note: Consistent with Canada's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), progress towards Canada’s targets is measured by combining information from Canada’s NIR to its LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) contribution in accordance with Canada’s approach to LULUCF accounting, which is reported separately. See Canada’s Biennial Transparency Report for more information.

Key points

• In 2024, Canada’s GHG emissions (excluding Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) were 685 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO₂ eq), a decrease of 78 Mt (-10%) from 2005, and a decrease of 2 Mt (-0.3%) from revised 2023 emissions
• The most notable trends in Canada’s emission profile between 2005 and 2024 were from electricity as well as oil and gas sources.
  • Emissions from electricity decreased by 66 Mt (-57%) over this period driven by the phase-out of coal-fired electricity generation. Oil and gas emissions increased by 10 Mt (5.1%), although emissions peaked in 2014 at 230 Mt and have since decreased by 22 Mt (-9.6%) to 208 Mt in 2024, consistent with measured decreases of fugitive methane sources in recent years
• The emissions intensity for the entire Canadian economy (GHG per gross domestic product [GDP]) has continued to decline; in 2024 it had declined by 48% since 1990 and by 37% since 2005
• As with every NIR publication, improvements have been implemented resulting in revisions to previously published data. Overall, this edition of the inventory shows an upward revision of 4.3 Mt in 2005 and a downward revision of 7.0 Mt in 2023, compared with the previously published inventory in 2025
• Canada’s NIR is a scientific report representing Canada’s historical emissions since 1990, which, along with other publications such as Canada’s Biennial Transparency Report and Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, informs and supports decision-making to reduce Canada’s GHG emissions and combat climate change

Annex – Greenhouse gas emissions data tables

Table 1: Canada’s GHG emissions by IPCC Sector, selected years (Mt CO₂ eq)

Notes:

Totals may not add up due to rounding.
0 Indicates emissions of less than 0.5 Mt CO₂ eq were truncated due to rounding.
^a Totals exclude all GHGs from the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector.

Table 2: Canada’s GHG emissions by Canadian economic sector, selected years (Mt CO₂ eq)

Note:

Totals may not add up due to rounding.