NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- Premier Kathleen Wynne says her government is introducing a cap-and-trade system next year because Ontarians are "very bad actors" when it comes to per capita creation of greenhouse gases.

Wynne says Ontario led the way in fighting climate change by shutting down all its coal-fired electrical generation stations, and admits it is responsible for a only small percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions.

But she says the province must "play a role" in Canada's fight against climate change because of the amount of emissions that are produced.

The Liberal government predicts cap-and-trade will add about $5 a month to home heating bills and about four cents a litre to the price of gasoline at the pumps when it kicks in Jan. 1.

The premier told the Niagara Chamber of Commerce she knows there is "some anxiety" in the business community about cap-and-trade, which allows polluters to buy emission credits that they can sell if they come in under their limit.

Wynne said the Liberals choose cap-and-trade over a carbon tax because the money raised from emission auctions will be used to help businesses reduce their greenhouse gases and to develop new, cleaner technologies.

"It's not just a financial burden," she said. "They actually get money back in order to innovate, so that's how they will reduce their emissions and be supported by the system."