Carney delays electric vehicle sales mandate by one year, launches cost review

Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government will waive its electric vehicle sales target for 2026 models.

The EV sales mandate introduced by the Liberals under former prime minister Justin Trudeau would have required 20 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Canada next year to be electric.

Instead Carney is delaying the mandate for a year and launching a full 60-day review of the program to make it more cost efficient.

The decision to delay the mandate for a year comes after months of lobbying from the auto industry.

EV sales in Canada hit 18 per cent last year when the government was offering consumer rebates but plunged to less than half that after the rebate program was scrapped last winter.

Ottawa has promised to bring back consumer rebates for EVs but it hasn't said when that might happen.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick