Canada’s electric vehicle market plummeted after federal purchase rebates ran out this year, in sharp contrast to steadily rising sales of conventional vehicles. The divergence has resulted in industry leaders rehashing their call for the Liberals to end their EV mandate, arguing that consumer demand simply isn’t there without taxpayer subsidies.
Nationwide sales of EVs collapsed between December 2024 and January 2025, falling by over 41.6 per cent according to Statistics Canada. Units sold continued to plummet in February, reaching a mere 8,531 units compared to the 24,787 sold in December. However, a small rebound to 12,347 was recorded in March.
Meanwhile, sales of other fuel-type vehicles in March 2025 showed no sign of slowing down. Compared to December 2024, March saw a nearly 60 per cent increase in other types of vehicles sold. While 116,871 vehicles (aside from EVs) were sold in February 2025, this jumped to 176,805 in March.
The data showing that Canadians are rejecting EVs led to the CEO of Ford Canada, Bev Goodman, saying that EV mandates need to be repealed, according to Yahoo Canada.
The Liberals’ EV program, which incentivized over 546,000 cars, was paused in January 2025 after running out of funding. It was initially scheduled to run until March 31, 2025.
The program was initially allotted $300 million in taxpayer funds in the 2019 federal budget. Budget 2022 allotted an additional $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to the program. Then, the Liberals pledged an additional $1.5 billion towards the program, meaning at least $3.5 billion in taxpayer funds have been dedicated to the EV subsidy so far.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer published a report showing that resuming the program would cost Canadians over $11 billion between 2025 and 2030.
Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin recently doubled down on the Liberals’ 2035 gas vehicle ban, celebrating it.
The proposed mandate will prohibit manufacturers and dealers from selling new gas-powered light-duty cars or passenger vehicles by 2035. By 2030, at least 50 per cent of all new light-duty vehicle sales within Canada must be EVs, with the target rising for subsequent years.
Conservative MP Dan Mazier reminded Canadians that this would mean they would no longer be able to purchase any new gas-powered trucks, SUVs, or cars by 2035.
“The Liberals want to take away your vehicle choice and drive up costs,” he said.
Previous polling showed that the majority of Canadians are against the Liberals introducing an EV mandate.
Previous studies have also highlighted that the electric vehicle mandate might not even be possible, as the power grid would not be able to support the new demand.
Like Ford Canada’s CEO, auto industry leaders have been warning the Liberals to abandon the zero-emission vehicle mandate for years.