Poilievre promises to end electric vehicle sales mandates if elected

HALIFAX — Promising to axe what he’s dubbed the “Car-ney tax,” Pierre Poilievre said Thursday a Conservative government would end Canada’s electric vehicle sales mandate.

The Liberal government introduced regulations to require 20 per cent of all new passenger vehicles sold in Canada must be zero-emissions by 2026. That benchmark rises each year, hitting 60 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035.

Electric vehicles accounted for 11.7 per cent of Canadian vehicle sales in 2023.

“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 told a news conference at a car dealership in Halifax.

The EV mandate regulations include a credit system to give auto manufacturers flexibility on meeting the sales target. They are able to earn and bank credits worth $20,000 each for the sale of electric or hybrid vehicles, and will lose those credits if they do not meet the targets.

Manufacturers can take up to three model years to work off a deficit and can earn credits for building fast-charging stations and for early sales of EVs.

But Poilievre claimed the Liberals are effectively imposing a tax on gas-powered vehicles.

“This is Mark Carney’s vision for Canada — a country where you don’t get to choose what kind of car you drive, where prices on everything skyrocket to fund his radical ideology,” he said.

The electric vehicle mandate is part of the federal government’s overall plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. The transportation sector produces a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada each year, and passenger vehicles account for close to half of that.

Poilievre did not mention emissions reduction at his press conference. The Conservative platform calls for a reform of investment tax credits “to reward clean Canadian manufacturing and production” and says exporting Canadian liquefied natural gas would help lower global emissions.

Poilievre said electric vehicles themselves are “another big problem.” He cited a CAA report from February that found cold weather sapped EV battery life by as much as 39 per cent, based on tests of 14 different vehicles. Those findings echoed concerns CAA said it has heard from electric vehicle owners in a recent survey.

Poilievre said the mandate will mean that dealerships have to lay off salespeople and staff and called them a “direct hit to the autoworkers.”

“I have nothing against electric cars. If you want one, buy one. Free choice,” he said, adding that Conservatives have promised to scrap the GST on Canadian-made vehicles as long as the U.S. auto tariffs are in place.

A Conservative government would honour all the agreements that have been signed for the construction of EV and battery plants in Canada, Poilievre said.

The news conference was held in the riding of Halifax West, where former Conservative party national president Rob Batherson is running against Liberal incumbent Lena Metlege Diab. The riding has been a Liberal stronghold since 2000, though voters elected Tory and NDP candidates before that.

Thursday marks the first time Poilievre’s leader’s tour has stopped in Nova Scotia during the campaign. He visited New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland in the second week.

He’s also set to hold a rally in Saskatoon Thursday evening — his first campaign visit to Saskatchewan. The election will be held on Monday.

— Written by Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa with files from Michael MacDonald in Halifax

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.

The Canadian Press