• A carbon tax, cap-and-trade system or compliance regulations could generate significant government revenue, projected to be in the range of CAD $18-50 billion per year. For the purposes of comparison, revenue of this scale would mean that carbon revenue could meet or exceed all federal corporate income tax receipts by 2020. As a result, decisions regarding the intended use of the revenue and the institutions that will administer it are crucial.

• Options for the use of carbon revenue can be placed into the following broad categories: investments to support a faster transition to a low-carbon economy, lessening the unintended consequences of carbon pricing (e.g. impacts on vulnerable populations)and addressing broad fiscal priorities.

• New institutions will likely be required if revenue is used to invest in low-carbon technology, but not for the other categories, though they may require increased governmental transparency, accountability measures and reporting.

• This analysis is jurisdiction neutral, in that it examines the institutional issues and options open to any jurisdiction that generates carbon revenue. This Policy Brief does not touch on the very important issue of institutional and policy options related to the federal-provincial-territorial management of carbon revenue from a national carbon pricing scheme.