Canada Carbon Rebate payments just went out but here's why you didn't get yours yet

If you've been keeping an eye out for the final carbon tax rebate, today's the big day — the Canada Carbon Rebate is officially being deposited across the country for the last time.

But while plenty of Canadians will see a bump in their bank account today, others might be left wondering why the money never showed up.

The quarterly rebate — which was tied to the now-defunct federal consumer carbon tax — is wrapping up for good, with April 22 marking the very last payout.

The federal fuel charge officially ended on April 1, meaning this final Canada Revenue Agency payment is the last hurrah.

But there's a key reason you might be missing out, and it has everything to do with your 2024 tax return.

You must have filed your taxes (early)

In order to get the April Canada Carbon Rebate today, you had to file your 2024 tax return electronically by April 2 — yes, a whole month before the official tax deadline.

That's because the rebate is part of the new benefit year and relies on up-to-date details like your address and household setup to calculate eligibility and payment amount.

But before you start panicking, there's good news. If you didn't hit that deadline, you haven't lost your rebate entirely. It'll just take longer to arrive.

According to the CRA, most people who file after the cutoff can expect to get their payment within six to eight weeks of their return being processed — so, yes, the money is still coming, just on a slight delay.

Not every province gets the rebate

Another reason you might not have received anything? The Canada Carbon Rebate only goes out to residents of provinces that used the federal carbon pricing system. That means Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, P.E.I. and Saskatchewan.

If you live in B.C., Quebec or any of the three territories, you're out of luck when it comes to this particular rebate. Those regions had their own provincial or territorial carbon pricing programs and/or handled their own rebates — so residents there never got this federal rebate in the first place.

Instead, most of those provinces and territories had separate systems for returning carbon tax proceeds. For example, B.C. paid out its BC Climate Action Tax Credit, while the Northwest Territories offered a Cost of Living Offset. These payments were bundled with the GST/HST Credit, so the final payments already went out earlier this month.

It's the end of the line for this rebate

The April 2025 payment is the final chapter in Canada's carbon tax rebate program. Introduced in 2019 as the Climate Action Incentive Payment, the rebate was designed to return money collected through the federal fuel charge back to Canadians.

That's over now, since Prime Minister Mark Carney has officially scrapped the consumer carbon tax.

If you did get the payment today, you may have noticed it's a little higher than usual. That's because the final payout includes the annual increase that normally takes effect every April.

The amount you can get depends on your province and family size — and for rural households, there's a 20% top-up that might apply too.

So if you haven't filed your taxes yet and you're wondering where your rebate is, this is your sign to get on it. You're still eligible — you just have to make the first move.

Love this? Check out our Narcity noticeboard for details on jobs, benefits, travel info and more!

AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of Narcity's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.