Dr. Jennifer Winter

Dr. Jennifer Winter is a Professor in the Department of Economics and the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, and the Departmental Science Advisor at Environment and Climate Change Canada. Her research evaluates climate policies, and examines the effects of government regulation and policy on energy development and the associated consequences and trade-offs. Current research projects include carbon pricing costs for households in Canada; comparing provincial emission-reduction policies; and federalism and climate policy. She has testified to the Senate of Canada and House of Commons on emissions pricing policies, and has advised governments in Canada in numerous capacities. Dr. Winter is actively engaged in increasing public understanding of energy and environmental policy issues; recognition of her efforts include a 2014 Young Women in Energy Award, being named one of Alberta Oil Magazine’s Top 35 Under 35 in 2016, one of Avenue magazine’s Calgary Top 40 Under 40 in 2017, and one of Canada’s Clean50 and Clean16 in 2019. She serves on several boards and advisory committees.

Research

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Energy innovations for today and tomorrow

Human dynamics in a changing world

Projects

Carbon Pricing Costs for Households and the Progressivity of Revenue Recycling Options in Canada

This is joint work with Dr. Brett Dolter, University of Regina and Dr. G. Kent Fellows, University of Calgary.

Federal legislation in Canada mandates a floor price on greenhouse gas emissions from combustion in all provinces. Provinces that implement an equivalent carbon price are free to direct the collected revenues to their own uses. Provinces that do not implement a carbon price are subject to a federally administered pricing system, where revenues are recycled using lump sum household rebates.

Given the differences in provincial approaches and the differences in household spending, it can be difficult to determine exactly how much this carbon price costs Canadian households. In an effort to help people understand the household impact of carbon pricing in Canada, for each province and by income decile, we present estimates of:

costs by energy type (electricity, natural gas, gasoline, heating oil),
total costs from carbon pricing,
the value of a rebate under different rebate mechanisms, and
the net effect of carbon pricing for Canadian household budgets.

We analyse four revenue-recycling options: (1) a means-tested sales tax (GST/HST) credit increase; (2) a lump sum dividend; (3) a sales tax rate reduction; and (4) an increased basic exemption for personal income taxes. We characterise the distributional impact and progressivity of each revenue-recycling option.

We find the carbon tax is generally progressive even without revenue recycling, the GST rebate and lump sum rebate are progressive, the sales tax rate reduction is mostly regressive, and the income tax change is regressive. Importantly, the large-emitters system mitigates the indirect costs that exacerbates the effect of carbon pricing on households.

We have a published article explaining our methodology and results in detail, and report results on the website www.carbontaxcosts.ca. This article won the 2023 Vanderkamp Prize for the best article in Canadian Public Policy.

Awards

Principal Investigator for Multiple Account Benefit-Cost Analysis of Coal Mining in Alberta, Calgary Foundation. 2021
Canada's 2019 Clean 16, Delta Management Group. 2018
Canada's 2019 Clean 50, Delta Management Group. 2018
Avenue Calgary Top 40 Under 40, Avenue Magazine Calgary. 2017
Alberta Oil Magazine's Top 35 Under 35 in Canada's Energy Sector (2016), Alberta Oil Magazine. 2017
2014 Young Women in Energy Award, Young Women in Energy. 2014
Graduate Research Scholarship, The University of Calgary. 2011
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, The University of Calgary. 2010
Ian N. MacKinnon Memorial Fellowship, The University of Calgary. 2009
John S. Poyen Scholarship, The University of Calgary. 2009
Petroleum History Society Graduate Scholarship, The University of Calgary. 2009
Dean's Entrance Scholarship, The University of Calgary. 2008
Arthur J. E. Child Memorial Bursary in Economics, The University of Calgary. 2006
Graduate Research Scholarship, The University of Calgary. 2008
2023 Vanderkamp Prize for the best article in Canadian Public Policy, Canadian Public Policy. 2024

Publications

Journal articles

Fiscal integration with internal trade: Quantifying the effects of federal transfers in Canada. Trevor Tombe; Jennifer Winter. Canadian Journal of Economics 54(2). (2021)
Forks in the Road: Energy Policies in Canada and the US since the Shale Revolution. Jean-Sebastian Rioux and Jennifer Winter. American Review of Canadian Studies 50(1). 66-85. (2020)
Carbon Pricing in a Federal State: The Case of Canada.. Jennifer Winter. ifo DICE Report 18(1). 13-19. (2020)
Environmental Policy and Misallocation: The Productivity Effect of Intensity Standards. Trevor Tombe and Jennifer Winter. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 72. 137-163. (2015)

Books and book chapters

Making Energy Policy: The Canadian Experience (forthcoming). Jennifer Winter. Meeting the Paris Mandate: A Cross-national Comparison of Energy Policy-making, Patrice Geoffron, Lorna A. Greening, and Raphael Heffron, Editors. Springer Publishing. (2021)
Alberta in Canada’s Net Zero Future: Seizing Opportunities While Adapting to Change. Chris Bataille, Sarah Dobson, Anna Kanduth, and Jennifer Winter. Alberta’s Economic Future. Robert Mansell and Ken McKenzie, eds. The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. (2021)
Environmental Policy Transformations and Canada at 150. Jennifer Winter. Policy Transformation in Canada: Is Past Prologue?, Peter John Loewen, Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, Andrew Potter and Sophie Borwein, eds. University of Toronto Press. (2019)
Canada’s Role in Global Energy Markets. Jennifer Winter. Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies. (2019)

Other publications

A Review of Barriers to Full-Scale Deployment of Emissions-Reduction Technologies. G. Kent Fellows, Victoria Goodday, and Jennifer Winter. The School of Public Policy Publications 14(1). (2021)

Google Scholar

In the News

Now what? Climate, campaign promises, and the path ahead. What On Earth - CBC podcast. (2021)
NDP climate plan long on ambition, short on substance (again). CBC Opinion. (2021)
Conservative climate plan better than before, but still full of inconsistencies. CBC Opinion. (2021)
Liberal Party continues balancing act with unnecessarily vague plan on climate. CBC Opinion. (2021)
Green Party climate platform is both ambitious and unrealistic. CBC Opinion. (2021)