OTTAWA — The federal government moved last week to formally repeal the electric vehicle sales mandate, but the more stringent emission standards Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to replace it with is not close to being finalized.
In a notice in the Canada Gazette posted on Friday, the government outlined the proposed regulations to repeal the mandate, which would have set a target of having EVs account for at least 20 per cent of auto sales across Canada this year. The target was to increase to 100 per cent by 2035.
The government forecasted the change would drive the adoption rate of EVs to 75 per cent of new sales by 2035, and 90 per cent by 2040.
The mandate is among a growing list of climate policies introduced by former prime minister Justin Trudeau which Carney is dismantling, including repealing the consumer carbon price and scrapping the emissions cap on oil and gas production.
The government acknowledges that ending the sales mandate would slow the rate of adoption of EVs, and could cause $90.3 billion in “potential climate change-related global damages.”
The EV mandate was expected to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 376 million tonnes over 25 years — or annually about the emissions produced by three million cars — though the estimate is based on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions without factoring in new standards for emissions from gas-powered passenger vehicles.
Carney promised those more stringent tailpipe standards when he announced the plan to repeal the mandate in February. But on Monday, the government said it’s only set to begin consultations on the new tailpipe standards in the fall.
Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin was unavailable for an interview Monday on the plans.
“Getting this right is paramount for our economy and our environment,” Dabrusin’s press secretary Keean Nembhard wrote in a statement, adding Ottawa is also planning to launch a national charging infrastructure strategy in the coming months.
“That is why we are launching a new round of consultations, not just with the auto industry but also with environmental groups.”
A senior government official, speaking on background, said Ottawa is aiming to have draft regulations in place by early 2027. Multiple environment organizations told The Canadian Press they expected the draft regulations to be ready by the end of June.
“We were expecting this to come out a long time ago. Initially, we heard this was gonna come out in early summer, and we were told that over and over again,” said Sam Hersh, the clean transportation program manager at Environmental Defence.
“Climate hasn’t necessarily been a priority for this government. So I’m not really surprised that they sort of were so willy-nilly with this sort of thing.”
Carney first paused, and then ultimately said he would scrap the mandate, following pressure from provinces and carmakers who argued there were better ways to reduce emissions without potentially penalizing car manufacturers for not hitting their targets — particularly as the auto industry has been hammered by the trade war with the United States.
Carney said in February the new emissions standard will set a maximum of 74 grams of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent, per mile. That’s down from the current federal tailpipe emissions standard of 172 grams per mile — a 56.9 per cent reduction — which remains in effect.
At the time, government officials said they were still working on the path to get to the 74 grams per mile figure. One official said the work would happen through the regulatory process, with initial regulations targeting the 2027 to 2032 model years.
Environment groups say repealing the EV sales mandate without having the new tailpipe standards in place risks jeopardizing EV adoption, as other countries forge ahead with more EVs on their roads.
Joanna Kyriazis, the director of policy and strategy at Clean Energy Canada, said tailpipe emission standards are already prominent in most other regions around the world — except for the United States.
“As a result, other markets continue to see record-breaking EV sales, more affordable EVs on the market, more fuel efficient gas-powered vehicles available to their drivers at a time when gas prices are high and continually impacted by global geopolitical events,” Kyriazis told The Canadian Press.
“At this point, Canadians are being deprived of those options and exposed to volatile gas prices, that are just exacerbating their kind of cost of living challenges.”
Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
