British Columbia greenhouse operators are advised that applications for the 2015 greenhouse carbon tax relief grant are available until March 23, 2015.

The annual grant program covers 80% of the carbon tax that commercial greenhouse growers paid on the natural gas and propane they used for greenhouse heating and CO2 production in the previous year. Commercial vegetable and floriculture producers, wholesale nurseries, and forest seedling nurseries are eligible to apply.

For 2015, application packages and e-forms are available at:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=F3B79B6864D049DE9C784B5D0843EB48 or by clicking on the program button on the top right corner of: http://www.gov.bc.ca/agri/

The Ministry of Agriculture anticipates processing all of the applications by the end of May 2015.

The greenhouse carbon tax relief grant was first introduced as a pilot program in 2012 and was made a permanent program the following year. The program provided growers $7.1 million in 2014, $7.2 million in 2013 and $7.5 million in 2012.

B.C. greenhouse growers produced almost 130,000 tonnes of vegetables in 2013, worth more than $305 million. The floriculture and nursery sector generated about $450 million in revenue, producing almost 87 million cut flowers and more than 48 million potted plants and 38 million bedding plants.

In March 2014, the BC Greenhouse Growers’ Association celebrated BC Veggie Day, increasing consumer awareness about the high-quality greenhouse vegetable the industry provides. The promotion was assisted with $100,000 in Buy Local Program funding.

Media Contacts:

Dave Townsend
Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Agriculture
250 356-7098
250 889-5945 (cell)