Canada

• [New] The first BrightDrop EV600 vehicles will be delivered to customers including FedEx Express by the end of 2021, with orders opening to additional customers in Canada and the United States in early 2022.
• [New] North America (Canada and the U.S.) will spend close to $191 billion on government IT.
• [New] In late 2019, the federal government proposed a clean fuel standard, a regulatory approach to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30 million tonnes annually by 2030, through increased use of lower-carbon fuels, energy sources, and technologies.
• [New] Under the Paris Agreement, Canada has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.
• [New] One Canadian astronaut will be joining a record-setting voyage into deep space around the moon in the second phase of NASA's Artemis program, expected to launch in 2023.
• The average lifespan of a minority government in Canada is around 21 months, so in normal circumstances an election in the fall of 2021 might be expected.
• Canada is projecting a deficit of 343 billion Canadian dollars - an increase of more than 1,000% over the deficit in 2019-pushing national debt above 1 trillion Canadian dollars for the first time.
• Over the coming year, Canadian wireless carriers will continue expanding 5G service to new markets and preparing their networks for when new spectrum arrives.
• Canadian gas exports to the US have been higher, with an expected net gain over the course of the winter of about 300 mn ft3 / d, while Alberta's shift away from coal to natural gas in the power sector has picked up pace and will continue to do so through 2021 and into 2022.
• Others, such as China, have recovery plans to which coal is central, and have declined to join the commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
• A New York State pension fund last week said it aimed for net zero emissions by 2040 and is reevaluating its holdings in nine oil sands companies, the latest big investor to shun Canada's sector.
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that Canada will be getting 125,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech per week in January, for a total of about 500,000 doses by the end of that month.
• The Canadian oil industry is widely expected to pour billions into emissions reducing technology in the coming years after Ottawa last week announced it would hike its carbon tax by more than 500%, to $170 per tonne in 2030 from $30 per tonne now.
• With an investment of 350 million euros, the Electric Versatility Platform will play a key role in Mercedes-Benz Vans' plans for emission-free transportation, and will offer optimal solutions, including for the U.S. and Canada.
• Canada is to get 40 million doses of Moderna's vaccine in 2021, enough to vaccinate 20 million people, or about two-thirds of the Canadian adult population.
• An unexpected rebound in wood product prices this month is boosting profits for Canadian forestry companies but leaving homeowners and buyers with the prospect of higher home and renovation costs in 2021.
• During the campaign for the last federal election in 2019, Justin Trudeau's Liberals promised to plant two billion trees by 2030 to help Canada get to net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Canada could impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials who are responsible for the crackdown in the former British Colony, as the United States has done.
• About 375 million people will reach working age over the next 15 years - a population that's the combined size of the U.S. and Canada's today.
• In Canada, the Liberal government has said it wants to bring in 1.2 million immigrants over the next three years, including 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021.
• Together with the Pan-Canadian Framework, the federal government expects to achieve reductions within the range of 32 to 40% below 2005 levels in 2030, thereby exceeding Canada's emissions reduction target under the Paris Agreement.
• A target of 450 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity installed by 2030 and Canada promised a CA$170 (US$133) carbon price by 2030.
• The Trudeau government will spend up to $100 billion for economic stimulus over the next three years to help Canada build back better.

Last updated: 13 January 2021