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CBC
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Automakers 'cautiously optimistic' for EV mandate changes after meeting with Carney
Social Sharing The head of an organization representing automakers said he's "cautiously optimistic" after meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney to urge him to repeal the electric vehicle sales mandate. Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association CEO Brian Kingston joined the CEOs of Ford Canada, Stellantis Canada and GM Canada in a meeting with the prime minister on Wednesday in Ottawa. Along with discussing the impact of U.S. tariffs — the primary focus of the meeting — the automakers told Carney there's no way the industry can meet the targets set out in the EV mandate. The industry has long argued the mandate is unnecessary since Canada already has other policies to meet its emissions-reduction targets. "Why would you put an EV mandate on top of your existing [greenhouse gas] regulations? It makes absolutely no sense," Kingston said. "Now, what's changed since it was designed and came into force is that we've had this collapse in EV sales." The EV sales mandate requires 20 per cent of all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be zero-emission as of next year. The target rises annually to 100 per cent by 2035. The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows EVs accounted for 7.53 per cent of all new vehicles sold in April. Even when aided by the popular Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program — iZEV — which offered $5,000 off the cost of a new electric vehicle, EV sales peaked at 18.29 per cent in December 2024. The iZEV rebate program was suspended in January after the funding ran out. Sales dipped to 11.95 per cent that month, then to 6.8 per cent in February and 6.53 per cent in March, before climbing slightly in April. "If we are going to hit the 2026 mandated target of 20 per cent EV sales, you would have to grow ZEV sales by 180,000 units," Kingston said. "There is simply no way that that can occur on such a short timeline, given all of the current market forces at play." While the government has indicated it plans to bring back some form of consumer rebate for electric vehicles, Kingston said making such a promise without a firm timeline would undermine EV sales even further. In May, after meeting with General Motors management, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters the government was looking at bringing back "support programs" for EVs. Last month, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin told The Canadian Press that Ottawa is working on bringing back a rebate program specifically. The Liberal Party's election platform promised to look at ways to "reintroduce a purchase incentive worth up to $5,000." "Comments from ministers in the public suggesting that an EV incentive is coming back are extremely damaging," Kingston said. "It's a huge problem. If the government is going to bring it back, they've got to be clear about that with the plan and the timeline. And it has to be quick because if you tell people it's going to be in three months, then no one will purchase an EV for the next three months." Kingston said bringing back the rebate program — something Hyundai CEO Steve Flamand called for in a Thursday column in the Globe and Mail — wouldn't be enough to meet the EV mandate. "Just to give you a sense of what the cost would be if you were to try and put in place a $5,000 incentive and increase sales by an additional 180,000 vehicles to meet the 2026 target, you'd be talking about nearly a billion dollars in spending," he said. "That is not a sustainable policy."
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Ford, GM, Stellantis warn Carney as Trump tariffs crush Canada auto trade
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney convened a high-stakes meeting on Wednesday(July 2) with CEOs from Ford Canada , GM Canada , Stellantis Canada , and Brian Kingston of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association. The attendees gathered at the Prime Minister's Office to address the impact of renewed 25 percent US tariffs on Canadian-built vehicles and draw up plans to protect Canadian supply chains, at a time when trade talks with the United States are heating up again. The faces behind the numbers by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Don't Pay Full Price for 2025's Top Games! Shop Now Undo Line workers in Windsor, Ontario, and Oakville understand these tariffs as more than just economic data; they represent family paychecks, local businesses, and community identity. Canada responded to US auto, steel, and aluminum tariffs in April with matching 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on US vehicles, sparing parts to preserve integrated North American supply chains. A $2 billion 'strategic response fund' was also created to help affected workers Live Events Dropping EV sales compound the pressure Automakers face added strain from declining EV demand. April's data from Statistics Canada showed EVs made up only 7.5 percent of new sales, a sharp decline from record highs of 18.29 percent in December 2024. David Adams, CEO of Global Automakers of Canada , warned bluntly: 'There's no way that manufacturers are going to be able to meet their targets for 2026.' Canada's zero-emission vehicle mandate requires 20 percent EVs by 2026, rising to 100 percent by 2035. Trade brinkmanship and revival The trade talks had stalled late in June after Canada introduced a 3 percent digital services tax on large US tech companies. President Trump branded it a 'blatant attack' and froze trade negotiations. But Canada withdrew the tax on June 30, prompting the restoration of talks and a firm July 21 deadline to finalize a new Canada–US economic and security agreement Carney emphasized the need for a 'made‑in‑Canada supply chain' and greater trade partner diversification, redesigning economic policy 'to maximize US impact while minimizing harm at home'. But the automakers say the immediate pressures from steep tariffs to EV mandates are pushing their production models to the brink. Why this matters in the US Across-the-border effects : Tariff turbulence could increase vehicle prices in both countries. Shared industry risks : The auto supply chain spans the border, shutdowns in Canada ripple into US parts plants and dealerships. Cale ndar pressure : With just over two weeks until the July 21 deadline, failure to strike a deal risks escalating tariffs and retaliatory moves.
Canada Standard
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- Canada Standard
Canada's EV Market Was Already in Trouble-Tariffs Made It Worse, Workers Say
Bob Pulham recalls the optimism in the air when General Motors began producing electric vans in Ingersoll, Ontario, in late 2022. As the first BrightDrop commercial van rolled off the line at the CAMI Assembly plant, GM executives, union leaders and former prime minister Justin Trudeau touted it as a major milestone for electric vehicle production in Canada, The Canadian Press reports. Pulham, a Unifor representative at the plant, remembers talk of increasing shifts and hiring more people to produce 50,000 such delivery vans annually by 2025. But the sales never picked up, the plant kept slowing down the production line amid sluggish demand and the optimism slowly faded. This April, GM announced it would idle the plant for several months and resume production in October with just one shift. Union members say about half of 1,200 workers at the plant will be gone as a result. "I feel bad for all 600 that are being laid off. It's a horrible position to be put in," Pulham said in an interview. "It's a crazy amount of uncertainty and I think that hurts people." The announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles, but a GM Canada spokesperson said the halt was directly related to lower-than-expected demand for the BrightDrop vans. Pulham, who began working at the CAMI plant more than three decades ago, said his wife has also been laid off and is now pondering whether to go back to school or search for a new job. Several other companies, including Honda, Stellantis, Umicore, and Ford have also delayed or scrapped their EV projects amid the slow sales growth and the ongoing trade war. GM Canada said reducing production in Ingersoll was necessary to adjust to market demand and balance inventory. But workers at the CAMI plant say Trump's tariffs made things even worse. They've experienced the industry's ups and downs over the decades, but say this challenge is especially difficult at a time of great economic uncertainty. "There's a push to build (vehicles) in the U.S., and that has caused a lot of issues over here," Pulham said. "So, it's not a good situation." View our latest digests Mike Van Boekel, the Unifor Local 88 CAMI plant chairperson, said even though workers knew layoffs were on the horizon, the news was still shocking for many. "It was terrible," he said. "I thought we were going to lose a shift. I was worried in the back of my mind ... and now it has come true." GM's ambitious plan to be at the "forefront of a big wave" of electric delivery van production didn't materialize because the timing was not right, Boekel said. He felt the company was gaining some momentum before the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles. GM had just received an order of a thousand delivery vans from the U.S. grocery chain giant Kroger, he said. "So, it looked like we were just getting to go and all of a sudden, the tariffs came on," he said, adding that CAMI workers will still produce Kroger's vans when they return to the factory this fall. Workers aren't the only ones feeling the pain. The ripple effects of layoffs are a source of concern for Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie. The CAMI plant, which spans two million square feet, is the largest employer in the southwestern Ontario town of about 14,000 people. Petrie said Ingersoll expects to receive $1.8 million in municipal taxes from the company this year, which is around 10% of the total levies the town is expected to collect. "It is devastating because we're not talking about new employees here, either, these are long serving employees and ... they've had a tough road going up to that point," Petrie said in a recent interview at his office. The federal government under Trudeau set a target of 100% zero-emission sales of light duty vehicles by 2035. Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin indicated mid June that the mandate won't be changing. But that goal seems hard to achieve, Petrie said. "It's honest to say that I think everybody may have misunderstood the scale of the problem that we're facing to do the EV switch," he said. "I think all of them will admit that it's been a bigger problem than they once thought." Still, he thinks the more than $50 billion in investments that Canada has pledged since 2020 to incentivize the EV supply chain will pay off in the long term. Some provinces, including Manitoba and Quebec, are offering rebates for electric vehicle purchases. B.C.'s rebate program, which was the longest running in the country, was paused last month. Ontario scrapped its rebate program after Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives won the election in 2018. The federal government also halted in January its Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program, which offered up to $5,000 off the cost of a new electric vehicle. Dabrusin said Ottawa intends to bring back consumer rebates for EVs, but doesn't yet know what they'll look like. Zero-emissions vehicles represented only 8.7% of all new vehicle sales in Canada in the first quarter of 2025-a drop from 16.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data from Statistics Canada. The sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids had steadily increased from below 1% in 2017 to 14.6% in 2024, but experts say the growth hasn't been nearly as fast as many expected. Dan Park, CEO of online used car retailer Clutch, said EV adoption has been slower in Canada because people normally drive long distances in colder temperatures, which reduces battery life by 20 to 40% and slows down the charging speed. "Canada is just a fundamentally harder market to have," he said. "Until technology and battery life is improved to be able to handle colder conditions, I think Canadians will just shy away from it." Park said EVs make up only 5% of Clutch's inventory, which is tied to consumer demand. He said consumer rebates and production subsidies "artificially propped up the market," and provincial and federal governments should instead invest in a stronger charging infrastructure to encourage more Canadians to adopt EVs. A recent survey by consumer insights firm J.D. Power shows that only 28% of nearly 4,000 respondents said they were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase, down from 29% last year and 34$ in 2023. The survey also found that 75% of new vehicle purchasers aren't confident Canada can reach its 2035 zero-emission vehicle sales goal. Manufacturers took note of the lacklustre interest. Honda Canada announced in May that it's postponing a $15-billion EV project in Ontario, citing the "unexpected slowdown" in the market. Stellantis is postponing the production of an EV model of 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T at its Windsor, Ont., plant as it assesses the effects of U.S. tariffs. And Ford Motor Co. said it will assemble F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at its Oakville, Ont., plant beginning in 2026 instead of planned electric vehicle production at the site. Despite the setbacks, Environment and Climate Change Canada said it will continue to support investments and innovations in the EV supply chain. Canada's zero-emissions vehicle sales mandates ensure "Canadians have access to electric vehicles, which offer long-term savings for consumers," department spokesperson Hermine Landry said in a statement. "Transportation emissions have declined to levels not seen in decades, demonstrating that we can grow our economy while also fighting climate change," Landry said. "It is important to remain focused on the fact that the real threat to the Canadian auto industry right now are the unjustified tariffs from the United States." Overall, Canadians buy around two million new vehicles annually and the country produces approximately 1.5 million of them, according to Unifor. Autoworkers say the federal government should push for more vehicle production in Canada from manufacturers such as Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and others that don't have any production footprint in the country, to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs. "It'd be nice, (if) the government stands up for us and you know says to these big companies, 'If you want to sell here, then you need to build here as well,'" said Paul Harvey, who works as a framing team leader at CAMI. Harvey said that although he and his wife will keep their jobs at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, they will both have to work the same hours when production resumes on one shift. With four children at home, that means the couple will need a new child-care plan and increased costs will come with it. Harvey, who has been an autoworker for 20 years, said it would be "kind of silly" to think that the transition to electric vehicles would happen at the flick of a switch. He said he and his wife remain optimistic about the EV market and that's why they purchased a Chevy Blazer EV just a few weeks ago. "We're committed to moving into the future with the electrified vehicles," he said. "I do believe it will get there eventually." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. Source: The Energy Mix
Canada News.Net
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- Canada News.Net
Canada's EV Market Was Already in Trouble-Tariffs Made It Worse, Workers Say
Bob Pulham recalls the optimism in the air when General Motors began producing electric vans in Ingersoll, Ontario, in late 2022. As the first BrightDrop commercial van rolled off the line at the CAMI Assembly plant, GM executives, union leaders and former prime minister Justin Trudeau touted it as a major milestone for electric vehicle production in Canada, The Canadian Press reports. Pulham, a Unifor representative at the plant, remembers talk of increasing shifts and hiring more people to produce 50,000 such delivery vans annually by 2025. But the sales never picked up, the plant kept slowing down the production line amid sluggish demand and the optimism slowly faded. This April, GM announced it would idle the plant for several months and resume production in October with just one shift. Union members say about half of 1,200 workers at the plant will be gone as a result. "I feel bad for all 600 that are being laid off. It's a horrible position to be put in," Pulham said in an interview. "It's a crazy amount of uncertainty and I think that hurts people." The announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles, but a GM Canada spokesperson said the halt was directly related to lower-than-expected demand for the BrightDrop vans. Pulham, who began working at the CAMI plant more than three decades ago, said his wife has also been laid off and is now pondering whether to go back to school or search for a new job. Several other companies, including Honda, Stellantis, Umicore, and Ford have also delayed or scrapped their EV projects amid the slow sales growth and the ongoing trade war. GM Canada said reducing production in Ingersoll was necessary to adjust to market demand and balance inventory. But workers at the CAMI plant say Trump's tariffs made things even worse. They've experienced the industry's ups and downs over the decades, but say this challenge is especially difficult at a time of great economic uncertainty. "There's a push to build (vehicles) in the U.S., and that has caused a lot of issues over here," Pulham said. "So, it's not a good situation." View our latest digests Mike Van Boekel, the Unifor Local 88 CAMI plant chairperson, said even though workers knew layoffs were on the horizon, the news was still shocking for many. "It was terrible," he said. "I thought we were going to lose a shift. I was worried in the back of my mind ... and now it has come true." GM's ambitious plan to be at the "forefront of a big wave" of electric delivery van production didn't materialize because the timing was not right, Boekel said. He felt the company was gaining some momentum before the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles. GM had just received an order of a thousand delivery vans from the U.S. grocery chain giant Kroger, he said. "So, it looked like we were just getting to go and all of a sudden, the tariffs came on," he said, adding that CAMI workers will still produce Kroger's vans when they return to the factory this fall. Workers aren't the only ones feeling the pain. The ripple effects of layoffs are a source of concern for Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie. The CAMI plant, which spans two million square feet, is the largest employer in the southwestern Ontario town of about 14,000 people. Petrie said Ingersoll expects to receive $1.8 million in municipal taxes from the company this year, which is around 10% of the total levies the town is expected to collect. "It is devastating because we're not talking about new employees here, either, these are long serving employees and ... they've had a tough road going up to that point," Petrie said in a recent interview at his office. The federal government under Trudeau set a target of 100% zero-emission sales of light duty vehicles by 2035. Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin indicated mid June that the mandate won't be changing. But that goal seems hard to achieve, Petrie said. "It's honest to say that I think everybody may have misunderstood the scale of the problem that we're facing to do the EV switch," he said. "I think all of them will admit that it's been a bigger problem than they once thought." Still, he thinks the more than $50 billion in investments that Canada has pledged since 2020 to incentivize the EV supply chain will pay off in the long term. Some provinces, including Manitoba and Quebec, are offering rebates for electric vehicle purchases. B.C.'s rebate program, which was the longest running in the country, was paused last month. Ontario scrapped its rebate program after Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives won the election in 2018. The federal government also halted in January its Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program, which offered up to $5,000 off the cost of a new electric vehicle. Dabrusin said Ottawa intends to bring back consumer rebates for EVs, but doesn't yet know what they'll look like. Zero-emissions vehicles represented only 8.7% of all new vehicle sales in Canada in the first quarter of 2025-a drop from 16.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data from Statistics Canada. The sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids had steadily increased from below 1% in 2017 to 14.6% in 2024, but experts say the growth hasn't been nearly as fast as many expected. Dan Park, CEO of online used car retailer Clutch, said EV adoption has been slower in Canada because people normally drive long distances in colder temperatures, which reduces battery life by 20 to 40% and slows down the charging speed. "Canada is just a fundamentally harder market to have," he said. "Until technology and battery life is improved to be able to handle colder conditions, I think Canadians will just shy away from it." Park said EVs make up only 5% of Clutch's inventory, which is tied to consumer demand. He said consumer rebates and production subsidies "artificially propped up the market," and provincial and federal governments should instead invest in a stronger charging infrastructure to encourage more Canadians to adopt EVs. A recent survey by consumer insights firm J.D. Power shows that only 28% of nearly 4,000 respondents said they were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase, down from 29% last year and 34$ in 2023. The survey also found that 75% of new vehicle purchasers aren't confident Canada can reach its 2035 zero-emission vehicle sales goal. Manufacturers took note of the lacklustre interest. Honda Canada announced in May that it's postponing a $15-billion EV project in Ontario, citing the "unexpected slowdown" in the market. Stellantis is postponing the production of an EV model of 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T at its Windsor, Ont., plant as it assesses the effects of U.S. tariffs. And Ford Motor Co. said it will assemble F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at its Oakville, Ont., plant beginning in 2026 instead of planned electric vehicle production at the site. Despite the setbacks, Environment and Climate Change Canada said it will continue to support investments and innovations in the EV supply chain. Canada's zero-emissions vehicle sales mandates ensure "Canadians have access to electric vehicles, which offer long-term savings for consumers," department spokesperson Hermine Landry said in a statement. "Transportation emissions have declined to levels not seen in decades, demonstrating that we can grow our economy while also fighting climate change," Landry said. "It is important to remain focused on the fact that the real threat to the Canadian auto industry right now are the unjustified tariffs from the United States." Overall, Canadians buy around two million new vehicles annually and the country produces approximately 1.5 million of them, according to Unifor. Autoworkers say the federal government should push for more vehicle production in Canada from manufacturers such as Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and others that don't have any production footprint in the country, to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs. "It'd be nice, (if) the government stands up for us and you know says to these big companies, 'If you want to sell here, then you need to build here as well,'" said Paul Harvey, who works as a framing team leader at CAMI. Harvey said that although he and his wife will keep their jobs at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, they will both have to work the same hours when production resumes on one shift. With four children at home, that means the couple will need a new child-care plan and increased costs will come with it. Harvey, who has been an autoworker for 20 years, said it would be "kind of silly" to think that the transition to electric vehicles would happen at the flick of a switch. He said he and his wife remain optimistic about the EV market and that's why they purchased a Chevy Blazer EV just a few weeks ago. "We're committed to moving into the future with the electrified vehicles," he said. "I do believe it will get there eventually." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Canada's EV market was already in trouble. Tariffs made it worse, Ontario workers say
INGERSOLL - Bob Pulham recalls the optimism in the air when General Motors began producing electric vans in Ingersoll, Ont., in late 2022. As the first BrightDrop commercial van rolled off the line at the CAMI Assembly plant, GM executives, union leaders and former prime minister Justin Trudeau touted it as a major milestone for electric vehicle production in Canada. Pulham, a Unifor representative at the plant, remembers talk of increasing shifts and hiring more people to produce 50,000 such delivery vans annually by 2025. But the sales never picked up, the plant kept slowing down the production line amid sluggish demand and the optimism slowly faded. This April, GM announced it would idle the plant for several months and resume production in October with just one shift. Union members say about half of 1,200 workers at the plant will be gone as a result. 'I feel bad for all 600 that are being laid off. It's a horrible position to be put in,' Pulham said in an interview. 'It's a crazy amount of uncertainty and I think that hurts people.' The announcement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles, but a GM Canada spokesperson said the halt was directly related to lower-than-expected demand for the BrightDrop vans. Pulham, who began working at the CAMI plant more than three decades ago, said his wife has also been laid off and is now pondering whether to go back to school or search for a new job. Several other companies, including Honda, Stellantis, Umicore and Ford have also delayed or scrapped their EV projects amid the slow sales growth and the ongoing trade war. GM Canada said reducing production in Ingersoll was necessary to adjust to market demand and balance inventory. But workers at the CAMI plant say Trump's tariffs made things even worse. They've experienced the industry's ups and downs over the decades, but say this challenge is especially difficult at a time of great economic uncertainty. 'There's a push to build (vehicles) in the U.S., and that has caused a lot of issues over here,' Pulham said. 'So, it's not a good situation.' Mike Van Boekel, the Unifor Local 88 CAMI plant chairperson, said even though workers knew layoffs were on the horizon, the news was still shocking for many. 'It was terrible,' he said. 'I thought we were going to lose a shift. I was worried in the back of my mind … and now it has come true.' GM's ambitious plan to be at the 'forefront of a big wave' of electric delivery van production didn't materialize because the timing was not right, Boekel said. He felt the company was gaining some momentum before the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles. GM had just received an order of a thousand delivery vans from the U.S. grocery chain giant Kroger, he said. 'So, it looked like we were just getting to go and all of a sudden, the tariffs came on,' he said, adding that CAMI workers will still produce Kroger's vans when they return to the factory this fall. Workers aren't the only ones feeling the pain. The ripple effects of layoffs are a source of concern for Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie. The CAMI plant, which spans two million square feet, is the largest employer in the southwestern Ontario town of about 14,000 people. Petrie said Ingersoll expects to receive $1.8 million in municipal taxes from the company this year, which is around 10 per cent of the total levies the town is expected to collect. 'It is devastating because we're not talking about new employees here, either, these are long serving employees and ... they've had a tough road going up to that point,' Petrie said in a recent interview at his office. The federal government under Trudeau set a target of 100 per cent zero-emission sales of light duty vehicles by 2035. Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin indicated this week that mandate won't be changing. But that goal seems hard to achieve, Petrie said. 'It's honest to say that I think everybody may have misunderstood the scale of the problem that we're facing to do the EV switch,' he said. 'I think all of them will admit that it's been a bigger problem than they once thought.' Still, he thinks the more than $50 billion in investments that Canada has pledged since 2020 to incentivize the EV supply chain will pay off in the long term. Some provinces, including Manitoba and Quebec, are offering rebates for electric vehicle purchases. B.C.'s rebate program, which was the longest running in the country, was paused last month. Ontario scrapped its rebate program after Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives won the election in 2018. The federal government also halted in January its Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program, which offered up to $5,000 off the cost of a new electric vehicle. Dabrusin said Ottawa intends to bring back consumer rebates for EVs, but doesn't yet know what they'll look like. Zero-emissions vehicles represented only 8.7 per cent of all new vehicle sales in Canada in the first quarter of 2025 — a drop from 16.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data from Statistics Canada. The sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids had steadily increased from below one per cent in 2017 to 14.6 in 2024, but experts say the growth hasn't been nearly as fast as many expected. Dan Park, CEO of online used car retailer Clutch, said EV adoption has been slower in Canada because people normally drive long distances in colder temperatures, which reduces battery life by 20 to 40 per cent and slows down the charging speed. 'Canada is just a fundamentally harder market to have,' he said. 'Until technology and battery life is improved to be able to handle colder conditions, I think Canadians will just shy away from it.' Park said EVs make up only five per cent of Clutch's inventory, which is tied to consumer demand. He said consumer rebates and production subsidies 'artificially propped up the market,' and provincial and federal governments should instead invest in a stronger charging infrastructure to encourage more Canadians to adopt EVs. A recent survey by consumer insights firm J.D. Power shows that only 28 per cent of nearly 4,000 respondents said they were 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase, down from 29 per cent last year and 34 per cent in 2023. The survey also found that 75 per cent of new vehicle purchasers aren't confident Canada can reach its 2035 zero-emission vehicle sales goal. Manufacturers took note of the lacklustre interest. Honda Canada announced in May that it's postponing a $15-billion EV project in Ontario, citing the 'unexpected slowdown' in the market. Stellantis is postponing the production of an EV model of 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T at its Windsor, Ont., plant as it assesses the effects of U.S. tariffs. And Ford Motor Co. said it will assemble F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at its Oakville, Ont., plant beginning in 2026 instead of planned electric vehicle production at the site. Despite the setbacks, Environment and Climate Change Canada said it will continue to support investments and innovations in the EV supply chain. Canada's zero-emissions vehicle sales mandates ensure 'Canadians have access to electric vehicles, which offer long-term savings for consumers,' department spokesperson Hermine Landry said in a statement. 'Transportation emissions have declined to levels not seen in decades, demonstrating that we can grow our economy while also fighting climate change,' Landry said. 'It is important to remain focused on the fact that the real threat to the Canadian auto industry right now are the unjustified tariffs from the United States.' Overall, Canadians buy around two million new vehicles annually and the country produces approximately 1.5 million of them, according to Unifor. Autoworkers say the federal government should push for more vehicle production in Canada from manufacturers such as Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and others that don't have any production footprint in the country, to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs. 'It'd be nice, (if) the government stands up for us and you know says to these big companies, 'If you want to sell here, then you need to build here as well,'' said Paul Harvey, who works as a framing team leader at CAMI. Harvey said that although he and his wife will keep their jobs at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, they will both have to work the same hours when production resumes on one shift. With four children at home, that means the couple will need a new child-care plan and increased costs will come with it. Harvey, who has been an autoworker for 20 years, said it would be 'kind of silly' to think that the transition to electric vehicles would happen at the flick of a switch. He said he and his wife remain optimistic about the EV market and that's why they purchased a Chevy Blazer EV just a few weeks ago. 'We're committed to moving into the future with the electrified vehicles,' he said. 'I do believe it will get there eventually.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
