British Columbia’s commercial greenhouse operators have until April 29, 2016, to apply for the 2016 greenhouse carbon tax relief grants.

The annual grant 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 the grant.

Information, application packages, survey and e-forms for 2016 are available at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=F3B79B6864D049DE9C784B5D0843EB48

The Ministry of Agriculture expects the processing of applications to be completed by June 30, 2016.

Since making the greenhouse carbon tax relief grant a permanent program in 2013, commercial greenhouse operators have received significant rebates from the government. In 2015, the program provided $7.1 million in grants to greenhouse growers and $7.1 million in 2014.

The commercial greenhouse sector is a successful, growing industry. In 2014, growers produced more than 124,000 tonnes of vegetables, bringing in almost $297 million in revenue. B.C.’s floriculture, nursery and sod products generated nearly $459 million in combined revenues in 2014, which included almost 90 million cut flowers, more than 45 million potted plants and sod from approximately 490 hectares of growing area.

The B.C. government's Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan supports the greenhouse carbon tax relief grant program by encouraging greenhouse operators to adopt technology, practices and processes to enhance energy efficiency and competitiveness.