In 2013, Québec implemented a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading system (QC ETS), despite opposition from industry, which feared loss of competitiveness and warned about job destruction. This article assesses the impact of that carbon regulation on industrial facilities in Québec. Conditional difference-in-differences ordinary least squares regressions show that regulated plants reduced their GHG emissions by about 9.8%, employment by about 6.8% and carbon intensity by about 3.7% more compared to non-regulated plants in the rest of Canada during the period 2013–2015. This suggests that facilities adapted to the new program by improving their technology, but first and foremost by scaling down their activity, which raises questions about the ability of the QC ETS to induce enough environmental investment and innovation in industrial facilities. The results, in terms of employment effects, contrast with the findings of similar studies on the early stages of the European ETS and the British Columbia carbon tax scheme, and this information challenges the initial allocation scheme for permits, in particular, with a view to a green fiscal reform.

尽管受到行业人士的反对，魁北克在2013年仍实施了温室气体（GHG）排放交易系统（QC ETS），该行业担心失去竞争力并警告要辞职。本文评估了碳法规对魁北克工业设施的影响。条件差异一般最小二乘回归表明，与同期加拿大其他地区的非管制工厂相比，管制工厂的温室气体排放量减少了约9.8％，就业减少了约6.8％，碳强度降低了约3.7％ 2013–2015。这表明设施通过改进其技术而适应了新计划，但首先是通过缩减其活动，这引起了对QC ETS吸引足够的环境投资和工业设施创新的能力的质疑。