Output-Based Performance Standards Program and the Saskatchewan Technology Fund

Under Prairie Resilience, the OBPS Program requires regulated facilities to meet emission reduction performance standards. These standards are technically achievable, meaning industry is required to steadily reduce emissions intensity while ensuring the economy is protected against carbon leakage – when industry moves production and jobs to other countries with less stringent climate policies.

Regulated emitters whose emissions intensities are below permitted levels can generate and trade performance credits, creating new revenue opportunities. Regulated emitters can also purchase performance credits from other regulated emitters, or pay compliance into the Saskatchewan Technology Fund if their emissions intensities are above permitted levels.

The OBPS Program was expanded in 2022 and updated in 2023, capturing more emissions and introducing new program stringencies. The updated OBPS Program incentivizes use of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) by providing credits for emitters deploying CCUS at their facilities.

The revised OBPS Program now covers the following emissions-intensive trade-exposed sectors:

• Electricity generation
• Agricultural and industrial equipment manufacturing
• Chemical manufacturing
• Ethanol manufacturing
• Fertilizer manufacturing
• Food and beverage processing
• Grain and oilseed processing
• Iron and steel mills
• Mineral product manufacturing
• Mining
• Pulp mills
• Wood product manufacturing
• Natural gas transmission pipelines
• Refining and upgrading of petroleum
• Upstream oil and gas

Regulated emitters can obtain more information about the program under the Guidance for Emitters page.

OBPS regulated emitters who exceed permitted emissions intensity levels are required to pay compliance, which can be met by using performance credits, CCUS credits or by paying into the Saskatchewan Technology Fund.

Payments to the fund are made available to regulated emitters through a competitive application process to support a range of market-ready technologies, innovations and improvement projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at regulated facilities in Saskatchewan.

The Technology Fund’s First Intake

The fund announced its first intake in September 2023, with $25 million awarded to 13 projects across the province.

Key Achievements of the first intake:

• More than 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions will be eliminated, equivalent to taking one million gas-powered cars off the road for a year or heating all homes in Saskatchewan for two years.
• The projects are expected to attract more than $277 million in additional investment, fuelling innovation and economic growth.
• The first intake supports energy savings of nearly five million gigajoules, comparable to heating nearly half the homes in Regina for a year.

The Technology Fund’s Second Intake

The fund’s second intake was announced on January 16, 2025, with $47.5 million awarded to nine industry-driven projects.

Key Achievements of the second intake

• Collectively, the nine projects will reduce emissions by 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂e over their lifetimes, equivalent to the emissions from nearly 460,000 passenger cars or the annual energy use of over 350,000 homes.
• The projects are expected to attract $352.4 million in additional investment into the province.
• Six projects (Cenovus, Baytex, Teine, Mosaic, Nutrien, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.) are expected to save 8.2 million gigajoules in energy, the equivalent of providing nearly 200,000 homes with electricity for one full year.

Information about the Saskatchewan Technology Fund, including eligibility, project selection criteria and the application and evaluation process can be found in the fund’s Saskatchewan Technology Fund: Governance, Administration and Operations Standard as well as the fund's Information for Applicants page.

Read annual reports for the Technology Fund.