Canada to Mandate Higher Electric Vehicle Sales by 2026

Canada will see a surge in eclectic vehicles sold on the roads within the next three years. New regulations are being proposed by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault under which one-fifth of all passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in Canada in 2026 will need to run on electricity.

To decrease the impact on the environment and find a more sustainable solution, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is proposing new regulations that aim to increase the number of electric vehicles on roads. In Canada, one-fifth of all passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in 2026 will need to run on electricity. It is unclear if these vehicles need to be fully electric or if hybrid models are acceptable.

Furthermore, by 2030, 60 percent of all vehicle sales will need to be electric. The main objective is to have go completely electric by 2035. The regulation is currently a draft and will be formally published by December 30. Passenger vehicles account for 50 percent of all road transportation emissions and about one-tenth of Canada’s total emissions across all sectors.

Electric vehicle sales in Canada have been quite low. In the first six months of this year, only 7.2 percent of new car registrations were electric or hybrid. This was up by a small amount compared to 5.2 percent for the whole of 2021. The government offers a bigger credit on fully electric cars compared to plug-in hybrids.

Before this plan, there were targets in place that were not being acted on. Car manufacturers were not being pushed to make electric vehicles for sale but now, with the implementation of the plan, they will be forced to invest more in electric vehicles and push them to their customers.

Across provinces, British Columbia seems to be winning when it comes to electric-vehicle sales. In the first six months this year, almost 15 percent of all new car registrations have been for electric vehicles. Quebec follows with 11.4 percent of registrations. Anna Kanduth, a senior research associate at the Canadian Climate Institute, said, “Auto manufacturers are largely prioritizing jurisdictions with some type of sales mandate,” and explained that mandates result in the larger adoption of zero-emission vehicles. This is also because Quebec and British Columbia already have mandates in place.

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