A Tory government would get rid of the government’s sales mandate for electric vehicles (EVs), Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced on April 24.
The Liberal government introduced new regulations in December 2023 that would require 20 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold in Canada to be zero-emission vehicles by 2026, including fully electric or plug-in hybrid models. The quota rises each year, to 60 percent by 2030, and 100 percent by 2035.
“If a company sells even one car over the government-imposed quota, they will face a $20,000 per vehicle tax, which will obviously be passed on to consumers,” Poilievre said during a press conference in Halifax. “That’s not a penalty for the car company. They'll just pass it on.”
Under the guidelines, automakers are given credits, each worth $20,000, for the EVs they sell. The number of credits given is based on whether the vehicles are hybrids or full EVs. Manufacturers that sell more EVs than needed to meet annual targets can bank those credits to meet targets in future years, or sell them to companies that didn’t meet their quotas. Auto manufacturers lose those credits if they do not meet the benchmark targets.
The EV mandate is part of the federal government’s overall plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. When announcing the plan, then-Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault described the strategy as “skating to where the puck is going,” as the number of EVs being sold in Canada had increased over the previous three years.
The market share for EVs in Canada was just over 11 percent in 2023, according to government data.
Poilievre said many vehicle dealers have “no idea” how they will meet the EV timelines without losing out on sales, and many will have to lay off workers or “dramatically” raise prices.
Poilievre argued the government’s EV mandate will also result in more auto manufacturing jobs going to the United States, particularly those in the Ontario cities of Oshawa and Windsor. He cited a study by the Canadian Journal of Economics that found the EV mandate would result in 38,000 auto sector jobs being lost.
The Conservative leader also cited issues with EVs themselves, including testing done by the Canadian Automobile Association, which found that EVs lose up to 40 percent of their battery life in cold weather of minus 7 degrees Celsius or below.
“We all know that in Canada, it gets a lot colder than that. So try in Saskatchewan in January, when it’s minus 25 or colder,” Poilievre said.
He added that he had “nothing against electric cars” but that whether or not to purchase them should be a “free choice” decided by market demand. He also said the Tories would honour existing agreements signed by the government for the construction of EV and battery plants in Canada.
The Conservatives’ costed platform, released on April 22, estimates that removing the EV mandate would save the federal government $11.1 billion over four years. The Tories’ plan also involves cutting the GST on Canadian-made vehicles “so long as American tariffs remain in place,” and establishing a Keep Canadians Working Fund to protect the jobs of workers directly impacted by U.S. tariffs.
The Liberal platform pledges to expand Canada’s EV charging network with thousands of new stations by 2027, examine ways to reintroduce a $5,000 rebate program for EVs, and look at ways to reduce the country’s reliance on imported clean fuels.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has also vowed to replace the consumer carbon tax, which he brought down to zero in March, with a new “consumer carbon credit market” that rewards Canadians for making lower-emission choices. Canadians would be given rewards for buying electric vehicles, electric heat pumps, and energy-efficient appliances, while “big polluters” in industry would pay for those incentives.
