Overview

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks regulates the amount of renewable content in gasoline and diesel fuel used or sold in Ontario.

Renewable content means cleaner biofuels that are made with biological materials including crops, forest residues and organic waste. Examples of renewable content (also known as bio-based content) available in the marketplace includes biofuels such as:

  • ethanol
  • renewable gasoline
  • biodiesel
  • renewable diesel

By law, Ontario requires fuel companies to provide more environmentally friendly fuels by requiring the use of cleaner renewable content. This helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario.

This change is expected to result in an annual reduction of up to one megatonne of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030, the equivalent of taking 300,000 cars off the road every year.

The law

The Cleaner Transportation Fuels regulation (O. Reg. 663/20) requires that fuel suppliers blend 10% of renewable content in gasoline from 2020 to 2024.

The renewable content requirement increases to:

  • 11% in 2025
  • 13% in 2028
  • 15% in 2030 and onward

This renewable content must emit:

  • 45% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil gasoline on a lifecycle basis before 2030
  • 50% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil gasoline on a lifecycle basis from 2030 onward

The regulation also requires fuel suppliers to continue to blend 4% renewable content in diesel. This renewable content must emit 70% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil diesel on a lifecycle basis.

Fuel suppliers must also report annually and make sure that blended fuels meet specific quality standards set out in the ministry guideline.

The regulation revoked the former Greener Gasoline (O. Reg. 535/05) and Greener Diesel (O. Reg. 97/14) regulations.

Source law

You can find a complete set of provincial rules related to this activity in:

Who must comply

You must comply with the law if you supply gasoline or diesel fuel to the Ontario market.

You are considered a supplier if you:

  • manufacture diesel, blended diesel, gasoline or blended gasoline — and use or sell it in Ontario (wholesale or retail)
  • import diesel, blended diesel, gasoline or blended gasoline into the province — and use or sell it in Ontario (wholesale or retail)
  • acquire diesel, blended diesel, gasoline or blended gasoline through an inter-refiner agreement — and use or sell it in Ontario (wholesale or retail)

Suppliers must meet the renewable content requirements for the volume of fuel they have manufactured, imported or acquired through an inter-refiner agreement and used or sold in Ontario.

For example, an independently-owned retail station in Kingston:

  • sells 1 million litres of gasoline or diesel at its outlet
  • of the 1 million litres sold, 100,000 litres of gasoline or diesel were imported from the U.S. directly by the retail station
  • the other 900,000 litres of gasoline or diesel sold were already placed in the Ontario market by the wholesaler that supplied the gasoline or diesel to the retail station

The retail station must only meet the renewable content requirements for the 100,000 litres it imported directly and then sold (placed in the Ontario market).

Compliance reporting

You must complete a compliance report that meets the requirements of the regulation and confirms the amount of renewable content in gasoline and diesel that you have placed in the Ontario market.

Compliance reports include:

1. General information

  • Name of supplier.
  • Address of supplier.
  • Compliance period.

2. Compliance information

  • Average annual renewable content.

The report must confirm the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions performance of the renewable content in gasoline or diesel fuel.

The lifecycle models that must be used to calculate the greenhouse gas performance of renewable content in fuel are listed in the ministry guideline. Email Environment and Climate Change Canada at ec.modeleacvcarburant-fuellcamodel.ec@canada.ca to get a copy of GHGenius model if you need one.

3. Transfers

The amount of renewable content transferred to and from the records of other fuel suppliers are often referred to as transfer volumes. These are not physical volumes of renewable content or blended content.

4. Declaration and signature

This statement confirms the accuracy of the report.

5. Facilities list

A list of all facilities used to distribute and/or sell gasoline or diesel during the compliance period.

When to report

You must complete and file a compliance report by March 31 after each compliance period.

Submit a report

To request the reporting form, email us at fuels-report@ontario.ca.

Send your completed report to fuels-report@ontario.ca.

You will get a confirmation email to let you know we received your report.

Keep a record

You must keep a copy of your compliance reports for 7 years. The type of documentation required for records varies depending on the specific end-use that is claimed. Acceptable records include sales receipts and purchase agreements.

Deductions

A fuel supplier can deduct volumes of gasoline if they expect it is being used to generate power in:

  • aircraft
  • marine vessels or marine equipment
  • off-road vehicles or off-road equipment
  • vehicles manufactured before 1980
  • motorized snow vehicles

Volumes of mid- and premium-grade gasoline (gasolines with octane levels of 89 or higher) can also be deducted.

A fuel supplier can deduct volumes of diesel if they expect it is being used to generate power in:

  • an aircraft
  • a furnace or boiler to produce heat

Volume exemptions

You do not have to report all volumes of gasoline or diesel fuel you have sold or used in Ontario.

Exemptions exist for gasoline or diesel fuel include fuel that is:

  • manufactured or sold for export, where established by written evidence
  • in transit through Ontario to another market — if supported by written evidence
  • imported for scientific research purposes

Quality standard requirements

You must ensure your blended gasoline or blended diesel fuel meets fuel quality standards before it is distributed for use or sale in the Ontario market.

These fuel quality standards are set out in the ministry guideline.

You may also submit alternative fuel quality standards including methods and protocols for testing to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for approval by emailing us at fuels-report@ontario.ca.

Contact us

If you have questions about complying with the Cleaner Transportation Fuels regulation, please email us at fuels-report@ontario.ca.