The Government of Canada issued a CAD 2 billion seven-year green bond in February 2025, the fourth offering under its national Green Bond Programme and the second transaction of the 2024-25 fiscal year. The Department of Finance confirmed that the two transactions in the current fiscal year together raised CAD 4 billion in total proceeds.
The bond was issued under Canada's Green Bond Framework as updated in November 2023, which made certain nuclear energy expenditures eligible.
USE OF PROCEEDS AND ELIGIBLE CATEGORIES
Proceeds are eligible for allocation across the categories of Canada's Green Bond Framework, which include clean energy (including nuclear), clean transportation, energy efficiency, climate change adaptation, living natural resources and land use, and pollution prevention and control.
Eligible clean transportation expenditures include the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which funds charging and refuelling stations, and incentives for the purchase or lease of zero-emission vehicles. Eligible energy efficiency expenditures include the Canada Greener Homes Grant, which supports homeowners making energy-efficiency retrofits.
The clean energy category covers renewable power generation projects including hydro, wind and solar. The updated framework aligns Canada's programme with the International Capital Market Association's Green Bond Principles.
PROGRAMME TO DATE
Canada has completed four offerings totalling CAD 13 billion, including CAD 4 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year. The Department of Finance publishes annual allocation and impact reports providing investors with details of how proceeds have been deployed and the environmental outcomes attributed to funded projects. The federal government has indicated that green bond issuances will continue to form a component of the overall debt management programme, with the size and timing of future transactions subject to borrowing requirements and prevailing market conditions.