National

Automakers 'cautiously optimistic' on EV mandate changes after meeting with PM

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Jul, 2025 09:56 AM

The head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association says he's "cautiously optimistic" the federal government will repeal its electric vehicle sales mandate.

Brian Kingston was among several auto industry executives who met with Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday in Ottawa.

Along with discussing the impact of U.S. tariffs, the automakers urged Carney to get rid of the EV mandate, saying there's no way the industry can meet the targets it sets out.

The mandate policy states that, as of next year, 20 per cent of all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada must be zero-emission, and that target rises annually to 100 per cent by 2035.

Kingston said if automakers can't meet the 2026 target, they'll have to pull about one million gas-powered vehicles from the market in order to comply with the sales mandate.

The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows EV sales in Canada dropped to 7.5 per cent in April.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

These industries would be hit hardest by Trump's 25 per cent tariffs

Statistics Canada says the value of Canadian exports to the United States in 2023 exceeded $594 billion. More than 43 per cent of that came from just six industries: oil and gas extraction, oil and gas refining, auto manufacturing, aluminum production and processing, aerospace and crop and animal production.

These industries would be hit hardest by Trump's 25 per cent tariffs

Ukrainians worry as their three-year emergency visas are set to expire

Many of the 300,000 Ukrainians who have come to Canada on three-year emergency visas since 2022 face an uncertain future as their temporary resident permits come closer to expiring, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress warned Wednesday. Congress executive director Ihor Michalchyshyn said he met with Immigration Minister Marc Miller last week to ask his department to automatically renew the visas for another three years.

Ukrainians worry as their three-year emergency visas are set to expire

B.C. assembles 'war room' as U.S. tariff threat looms on Saturday

The relationship between the U.S. and Canada has "fundamentally changed," regardless of whether U.S. President Donald Trump's promised tariffs on Canadian goods materialize on Saturday, according to the chair of a new B.C. cabinet "war room" to tackle the threat. Ravi Kahlon, who is also British Columbia's housing minister, said the provincial government would work to diversify the province's economy and reduce its reliance on the United States.

B.C. assembles 'war room' as U.S. tariff threat looms on Saturday

Plane was in training spin when it crashed, killing instructor and student: report

A report says a plane was doing a training spin at a lower-than-recommended altitude when it went down in a lake near Edmonton, killing a flight instructor and a student pilot. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the plane was working properly and the weather was fine when it crashed in August 2023.

Plane was in training spin when it crashed, killing instructor and student: report

'Staggering' number of families struggle in B.C.'s system for disabled kids: advocate

The latest report from Jennifer Charlesworth's office says up to 83,000 young people with disabilities are not receiving adequate services in the province, and while spending increased by 190 per cent in the 18 years her office has been in place, the majority of that went to salaries and a narrow set of programs.

'Staggering' number of families struggle in B.C.'s system for disabled kids: advocate

Specialist wait lists for B.C. patients grow to 1.2 million people: doctors groups

Doctors of BC and the Consultant Specialists of BC say they surveyed nearly 1,000 specialists and found that about 1.2 million patients are waiting too long to see a health expert in areas such as cardiology, neurology, orthopedic surgery, and urology.