Most Canadian consumers are open to Chinese electric vehicles entering the market. However, some of them have raised concerns about data security, according to a new study.
The AutoTrader 2026 Electric Vehicle Survey has polled 1,761 Canadians between February 9 and March 11, with the results showing that 53% of them are interested in Chinese EVs.
Of those, 74% have admitted that pricing is the main reason, with half noting that longer driving range is also being considered.
However, the study also found that 50% of those interested have reservations about data collection by the Chinese automakers.
“Some concerns remain, and there are still areas to bridge for example, 50% of intenders are still concerned about how data is collected, used and stored by EVs from Chinese brands,” the study read.
Consumer concerns echo those raised by several government officials and politicians.
The Conservative Party has partly based its opposition of Chinese EVs entering Canada on potential surveillance risks.
“We’re hearing loud and clear from security experts: Chinese electric vehicles have the capability, for all intents and purposes, of being surveillance vehicles,” Conservative shadow minister for industry Raquel Dancho said earlier this year.
Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario — where most of the Canadian auto industry is based — has voiced similar worries.
Political Debate
As Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled the China–Canada deal — allowing 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter Ottawa each year at a reduced 6.1% tariff — Doug Ford had already criticized the vehicles as “spy cars” and described the agreement as “Huawei 2.0.”
“I find it ironic that the Prime Minister is using a burner phone and all his staff over in China, but we’re making a deal — it’s Huawei 2.0 — to come back and send to Canada, and we get nothing but potential job losses in our factories right across the border,” the province leader said.
The Conservative Party passed a motion at the House of Commons Industry Committee to study the issue.
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, from the China Strategic Risks Institute, said that there’s a threat of surveillance stemming from software in Chinese EVs that links to mobile networks and often the driver’s personal phone.
Other analysts and former officials, including attorney George Takach, have testified about the security risks.
According to these experts, Chinese EVs often use software (like the country’s tech giant Baidu) that can collect camera, microphone, GPS, and even phone data — even when the car is off — and transmit it back to China under the country’s national security laws.
The Goverment’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has guaranteed that all Chinese EVs entering Canada must meet Canadian security standards.
Anandasangaree noted that “safeguards” will be in place to limit data flowing back to China.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has also floated using Canadian software as a “safe harbour” for data sovereignty.
States Approach
Acting on these concerns is not uncommon.
In the United States, restrictions on connected vehicle finalized under President Biden in January 2025 are being reinforced by the Trump Administration, trade representative Jamieson Greer said.
Those rules bar vehicles from using Chinese- or Russian-linked software and hardware, citing risks tied to data collection and potential remote access to vehicle systems.
The restrictions have the strong backing of US carmakers and industry groups, many of which have also opposed Canada’s recent trade agreement with China — as Biden also quadrupled the tariff on Chinese EVs to 100%.
In Europe, authorities are already monitoring connected vehicles and conducting risk assessments when they are used near government buildings and sensitive sites.
Last year, the UK government instructed Ministry of Defence staff not to discuss classified information inside Chinese-made vehicles amid fears of espionage.
Earlier this year, Poland went further — banning Chinese-made vehicles from entering military facilities over data security risks.
Labor Concerns
Testimony from McCuaig-Johnston in the recent hearing also included the argument of forced labor.
According to the scholar, as labor abuse is used in the production of vehicle parts, Canada should not import Chinese EVs on those grounds.
China’s embassy in Ottawa pushed back forcefully on March 28, dismissing her testimony in a statement posted to X.
“The blatant lie spread by a handful of anti-China individuals about the so-called ‘forced labor’ in China aims to achieve nothing but ‘forced unemployment,'” the embassy said.
The embassy said the Chinese government “has always adhered to the ‘people-centered’ philosophy” and described job creation as its “overriding priority.”
It framed Canada-China EV cooperation as “intrinsically mutually beneficial and win-win,” adding that such cooperation “is very much welcomed by the majority of the Canadian public.”
“No matter how many times repeated, a lie is always a lie,” the statement concluded. “Using the so-called ‘forced labor’ as a pretext to smear and attack China will never be accepted. And the anti-China forces’ ill-intentioned political manipulation of the so-called ‘forced labor’ is doomed to fail.”
BYD in Canada
These concerns have grown especially important as reports of labor abuse in BYD‘s plants in Brazil and Hungary have surfaced.
The Chinese giant is preparing to enter the Canadian market, with the company insisting on full ownership of any Canadian facility.
According to Executive VP Stella Li, a joint venture structure — as proposed by the Industry Ministry for Chinese automakers entering the country — “would not work” for the company in Canada.
Days after Brazilian authorities added the company to a government blacklist over “slavery-like” labor conditions, a report by the New York-based China Labor Watch (CLW) has found similar situations in its Hungarian plant.
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (CVMA) President Brian Kingston called the report “deeply concerning,” adding that “Canada’s auto industry can compete and win, but the playing field must be level.”
According to the AutoTrader 2026 Electric Vehicle Survey, 12% of Canadian consumers recognize BYD as an important brand in the segment.
“Despite having yet to sell a single vehicle in Canada, when openly asked about which EV brands come to mind when thinking of EVs, 12% of EV intenders identified BYD as a brand that they knew,” the study found.
BYD placed “higher than brands with established Canadian presence, like Volkswagen and BMW,” despite staying well below best-selling Tesla (73%) and Toyota (47%).
EV Pricing
As of March, the average vehicle pricing in Autotrader.ca was C$62,830, a 2.7% decrease year over year, with used vehicles priced at roughly C$36,000.
Battery electric vehicles (BEV) had an average price of C$64,815 — down 10.5% from a year before, with used EVs priced around C$44,000.
The survey showed that about 49% of Canadian consumers who do not own an EV are considering one over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles for their next purchase.
EV demand has surged on the reinstated EV incentives — with the Government offering a C$5,000 rebate on all EV purchases — and improved charging infrastructure, in which the Government is pouring C$84.4 million.
The subsidy applies a C$50,000 elibigility cap on imported EVs and applies only to vehicles imported from countries that have free trade deals with Canada, which suggests that China EVs would not be included.
Most electric vehicles sold in Canada are imported, with the US, Japan, South Korea and Italy representing the country of origin of the majority.
Only two EV models are currently produced in Canada — Stellantis‘ Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger EV. Both are priced over C$60,000.
