It is true that there are many figures and calculations in those data.
We first looked at household consumption by province and by income quintile. Those data are available from Statistics Canada, which regularly conducts surveys to determine household consumption patterns, in terms of energy, goods and services. Those data are important for determining household consumption by quintile and household make-up, meaning the number of adults and children, which helps to determine what carbon pricing will represent for the households. We already know the future cost of one tonne of carbon: between 2018 and 2022, it will increase from $20 to $50.
The impact of the increase on the prices of gasoline, natural gas and other carbon-based fuels can be determined with some degree of certainty. For example, we know that one litre of gasoline generates about 2.2 kilograms of carbon. So if the carbon price is $20 per tonne, it is easy to calculate that it is 4.4 cents per litre of gasoline. That's how we get the price that consumers will have to pay.
To determine the net amount, we looked at how much consumers will receive in payments or discounts. In the last budget or in the fall economic update, the government announced the amount of rebates or refunds that will be paid to households. This amount is fixed and is not based on consumption, but on the make-up of the households. It will not be influenced by income. By looking at how much households will pay and how much they will receive, we get the net amount per quintile, of course.
As I mentioned, those are averages. It is possible that a household's consumption pattern may affect what the household will pay. For example, someone who uses their car a lot and heats their home with natural gas or oil will pay much more than someone who lives downtown, uses public transit or walks to work. There are differences within quintiles. That being the case, we came up with averages to provide an overall picture.