Carbon Market

Offset Credits

Through the offset credit component of Québec’s carbon market, individuals and companies (promoters) can voluntarily carry out projects in sectors not covered by the carbon market and obtain offset credits from the government in exchange for reducing or removing atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions generated by their projects. They may then sell these credits to companies regulated by the carbon market, who will use them to meet their compliance obligations.

By purchasing regulated credits, these companies can offset the emissions they were unable to reduce at their own facilities, thereby lowering their carbon compliance costs. However, only 8% of their total emissions may be offset in this way, so they have an incentive to reduce their own GHG emissions.

There are other ways for companies regulated by the carbon market to cover their emissions. Refer to the Eligible Emission Allowances section for more information.

Submitting a project to obtain offset credits

For information on how to register and carry out a project that is eligible for offset credits in Québec, please visit one of the following pages:

• Landfill methane reclamation and destruction
• Halocarbon destruction
• Carbon sequestration through afforestation or reforestation on private lands
• Methane destruction by covering manure storage facilities
• Destruction of methane from drainage systems at active coal mines
• Destruction of methane from ventilation air at active underground coal mines
• Manure anaerobic digestion

Only projects that follow a regulation or protocol approved by the Government of Québec and that meet the requirements for offset credits set out in the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances may be eligible to receive regulated credits.

For more information on the regulatory framework for offset credits, as well as work in progress, or to suggest activities that could eventually be regulated, visit the Regulatory framework for offset credits page.

Offset credits issued

The following table summarizes the offset credits issued since operations began on January 1, 2014.

Regulation	Credits issued
Regulation respecting landfill methane reclamation and destruction projects eligible for the issuance of offset credits (replaces protocol 2 on the destruction and treatment of methane from landfills sites)	911,957
Regulation respecting halocarbon destruction projects eligible for the issuance of offset credits (replaces protocol 3 on the destruction of ozone-depleting substances)	746,617
Total	1,658,574

Offset credits issued as of April 10, 2024

For further details on offset credit projects submitted and on all credits issued, see the Register of Offset Credit Projects.

Assistance

If you have any questions concerning this process, please contact the Carbon Market Division’s offset credit team by email at dmc.creditscompensatoires@environnement.gouv.qc.ca.

Please do not send personal or confidential information to this email address, as it is not secure.