UPDATE 1-Quebec introduces carbon tax, Canada CEOs urge more

(Adds cement industry reaction)

By Jonathan Spicer

TORONTO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The province of Quebec slapped the country's first carbon tax on energy firms on Monday, as Canadian business leaders urged "environmental taxation" to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

Indeed, other non-energy companies which use large amounts of carbon products could also take a hit from the tax, warned the president of the cement industry, citing companies such as St. Lawrence Cement STa.TO and LaFarge (LAFP.PA).

Cement is "certainly an energy-intensive industry ... but this tax unbalances our competitiveness across Canada, with the United States, and with the global cement industry," Pierre Boucher, president and chief executive of the Cement Association of Canada, told Reuters in an interview.

The carbon tax, proposed more than a year ago, is expected to raise C$200 million ($202 million) a year to fund the province's plans to reduce emissions.

It includes a per-litre levy of 0.8 Canadian cent for gasoline, 0.9 Canadian cent for diesel fuel, 0.96 Canadian cent for light heating oil, and C$8 a tonne for coal.

It wasn't immediately known whether the oil companies, including Petro-Canada (PCA.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), would pass along the cost to consumers.

Separately, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives said on Monday Canada should become "an energy and environmental superpower," and suggested higher energy prices to help cut emissions.