THE FACTS: Canada’s Share of Global CO₂ Emissions – What You Need to Know

Canada’s Share of Global CO₂ Emissions: Important Context Behind the Numbers

Canada accounts for approximately 1.38% of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes, generally rounded to 1.4%. In 2024, Canada emitted about 533 million tonnes of CO₂, compared with a worldwide total of approximately 38.6 billion tonnes.

By comparison, China produced approximately 12.29 billion tonnes, the United States 4.9 billion tonnes and India 3.19 billion tonnes.

These figures measure emissions produced within each country’s borders and exclude emissions from land-use change. International aviation and shipping are included in the worldwide total but are not assigned to individual countries.

Canada’s Per-capita Emissions Remain Comparatively High – Why?

Canada’s high per-capita figure should not be ignored, but it also requires context

Although Canada accounts for a relatively small share of the global total, its emissions per person remain high compared with the world average. Canada’s official greenhouse-gas inventory estimates per-capita emissions of 16.6 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2024, compared with 23.7 tonnes in 2005. That represents a reduction of approximately 30% per person.

Canada’s high per-capita figure should not be ignored, but it also requires context. Per-capita national emissions are not simply a measure of how much energy individual Canadians personally consume. They include emissions from transportation, buildings, electricity, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas production and other industrial activities carried out within Canada—including production that supplies exports to other countries.

Several structural characteristics help explain Canada’s comparatively high energy requirements.

Cold climate and heating requirements: Canada’s long winters create substantial demand for heating homes, commercial buildings, warehouses, hospitals, schools and industrial facilities. Countries with warmer climates generally do not require the same amount of energy for space heating. The OECD has identified Canada’s climate as an important contributor to its energy intensity because it requires greater energy use for heating.

A large country with long transportation distances: Canada is the world’s second-largest country by area, with communities, industries and markets separated by considerable distances. Moving people, food, construction materials, agricultural products, manufactured goods and natural resources across the country requires extensive trucking, rail, aviation and marine transportation. The OECD notes that moving people and goods across Canada’s vast geography makes transportation one of the country’s largest energy-consuming and emissions-producing sectors.

Greater reliance on vehicles: Many Canadian communities have lower population densities than major European or Asian centres. Public transit is practical in dense urban areas, but residents of smaller cities, rural communities and remote regions often have few realistic alternatives to personal vehicles. Canada also relies heavily on trucks for commercial freight and the delivery of goods between communities.

Transportation accounted for 28% of Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions in 2024. Canada’s vehicle fleet was 37% larger than it was in 2005, resulting in more kilometres driven overall despite improvements in the efficiency of individual vehicles.

A resource- and export-based economy: Canada is a major producer of oil, natural gas, minerals, metals, forest products and agricultural commodities. Extracting, processing and transporting these products requires energy, while the resulting territorial emissions are counted against Canada even when the products are exported and consumed elsewhere. The International Energy Agency describes Canada as a major energy producer, consumer and exporter whose northern climate and industrial structure create both opportunities and challenges for reducing emissions.

Canada’s geography and economic structure help explain its per-capita results, but they do not mean emissions reductions are impossible or unnecessary. They do mean that comparisons with smaller, warmer and more densely populated countries should recognize that nations do not begin with identical transportation systems, climates, industrial bases or energy requirements.

Are Canada’s Emissions Flat, Rising or Falling?

Over the longer term, Canada’s emissions have been declining, although not in a straight line.

Canada’s total greenhouse-gas emissions were 685 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2024, down from 763 million tonnes in 2005. That is a reduction of 78 million tonnes, or 10.3%, despite significant population and economic growth. Emissions were also 0.3% lower than in 2023.

Canada’s emissions reached a high of approximately 779 million tonnes in 2007. They subsequently declined during the 2008–09 economic downturn, remained relatively stable through much of the following decade, dropped sharply during the pandemic and then partially rebounded. Emissions fell again between 2022 and 2024 and are now approximately 12% below their 2007 peak.

The population story is particularly important. Canada’s population increased from approximately 32.2 million in 2005 to about 41.3 million in 2024, an increase of roughly 28%. During the same period, total emissions fell by approximately 10%.

In other words, Canada added approximately nine million people while producing fewer total greenhouse-gas emissions than it did in 2005.

This explains why emissions per person have fallen much faster than total emissions:

• Total emissions declined by approximately 10% between 2005 and 2024.
• Emissions per person declined by approximately 30%.
• Emissions per unit of economic output declined by approximately 37%.

These improvements have resulted from coal-fired electricity closures, increased use of hydroelectricity, nuclear power and other lower-emitting generation, better energy efficiency, industrial modernization, fuel switching and reductions in methane emissions. Electricity-sector emissions alone fell by approximately 57% between 2005 and 2024.

At the same time, progress has not been uniform. Transportation demand, population growth and expanding resource production have offset some of the reductions achieved in electricity and heavy industry. Oil and gas emissions were 5.1% higher in 2024 than in 2005, although they have fallen by nearly 10% from their 2014 peak. Fugitive emissions declined substantially even as Canadian oil and natural-gas production increased.

The Broader Berspective

Canada’s approximately 1.4% share of global emissions is small compared with China, the United States and India. Canada could eliminate all of its domestic emissions and, by itself, would not solve the global emissions challenge.

However, Canada’s comparatively high per-capita emissions show that there remains considerable opportunity to improve transportation efficiency, reduce methane, modernize buildings and industry, develop lower-emitting technologies and make greater use of Canada’s relatively clean electricity system.

The fairest conclusion is that both perspectives matter. Canada is not a dominant global emitter, and its climate, geography, transportation distances and resource-producing economy contribute to its higher per-capita results. At the same time, Canada’s emissions record is improving: total emissions are down despite major population growth, emissions per person have fallen by approximately 30%, and the economy is producing substantially more value for every tonne emitted.