The federal government will publish its green bond framework early next year, targeting a $5-billion issuance before its fiscal year ends on March 31, according to the fiscal update released Tuesday.
In April’s federal budget, the Liberal government said the “first of many green bond issuances” would finance green infrastructure, cleantech innovation, nature conservation and other projects.
The $5-billion green bond issuance would represent just 2% of the $255 billion total bond issuance this fiscal year, according to Tuesday’s update.
In June the federal Department of Finance chose Toronto-Dominion Bank and HSBC Bank Canada as the structuring advisors for the green bond issuance.
On Tuesday the government also noted that it had established an interdepartmental green bond committee to support the green bond framework’s development, and appointed Sustainalytics to undertake a second-party opinion review process.
The April budget also said the government was considering diversifying into “social bonds,” but no update was provided on Tuesday.