OBPS calculator for pulp & paper
Calculate your pulp & paper facility's annual Output-Based Pricing System obligation against the federal performance standard of 0.55 tCO₂e per t pulp. Updated for the May 2026 carbon price schedule.
Market kraft pulp benchmark. NBSK (northern bleached softwood kraft) and other sub-grades may have separate sub-sector benchmarks.
You earn 15,000 tCO₂e in OBPS credits (surplus at the standard).
Annual obligation = (actual emissions − production × sector standard) × $95/tCO₂e. A positive number is cash you owe; a negative number is surplus credits you can bank or sell.
OBPS calculators for other Ontario sectors
Common questions
What is the OBPS performance standard for pulp & paper?
The federal OBPS performance standard for pulp & paper producers is 0.55 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per t pulp of production. This benchmark, set under ECCC's Output-Based Pricing System Regulations (SOR/2019-313), defines the emissions intensity below which a facility earns credits and above which it must remit payment at the federal carbon price.
How does the OBPS work for pulp & paper facilities in Ontario?
Also covering kraft pulp, nbsk, paper mills, pulp mill. A facility reports its annual production in t pulp and its total covered emissions in tCO₂e. The OBPS multiplies production by 0.55 to determine "allowed" emissions. The difference between actual and allowed emissions is multiplied by the federal carbon price for the compliance year. A positive result means the facility owes; a negative result means it earned OBPS credits.
How does the May 2026 carbon price freeze affect my pulp & paper facility?
The federal carbon price for industrial emissions (including OBPS) was held flat at $95/tCO₂e in 2026 (no increase from 2025), under the May 15, 2026 federal-Alberta agreement. The price rises to $100/t for 2027–2029, $115/t by 2030, and reaches $130/t by 2035. Facilities below the pulp & paper standard can sell surplus credits; facilities above the standard can buy credits from a registry.
Do small pulp & paper facilities have to participate in OBPS?
OBPS applies to facilities emitting 50,000 tCO₂e or more per year. Smaller pulp & paper facilities may still face federal carbon pricing through the fuel charge (where applicable) or provincial programs. Verify your facility's threshold with ECCC's OBPS facility-level reporting guidance.
Where can I get primary-data carbon accounting for pulp & paper?
VantageHSG ingests real facility documents — MTCs (mill test certificates), fuel slips, LIMS exports, SAP extracts — and turns them into audit-ready carbon ledgers with full source lineage. The mass-balance methodology lets pulp & paper producers substantiate Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions directly from primary data, which is more defensible than EEIO spend-based estimates.