The Quebec government cut its 2035 zero-emission vehicle sales target to 80% on Thursday, marking the second time in less than a year that the province has scaled back its ambitions for ending the sale of gas-powered cars.
Environment Minister Pascale Déry announced the regulatory shift, citing ongoing supply chain disruptions, difficulties accessing strategic materials and the trade pressures facing the Canadian auto industry.
The new threshold replaces the 90% target adopted in September 2025, which itself replaced the original 100% mandate first announced in 2020.
Crucially, the 80% figure applies to a broader vehicle category than the original ban envisioned.
Quebec’s ZEV definition originally covered only battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles.
In September 2025, the province expanded it to include plug-in hybrids, aligning with the federal standard — a notable shift from the original regulation, which excluded any vehicle with a combustion engine.
Déry called the move a “balanced approach” that maintains the province’s zero-emission vehicle standard while adjusting it to reflect “the reality on the ground and in our regions.”
The revised regulation means the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles will remain legal in Quebec beyond 2035 — a prospect that was off the table when the province first adopted its ban five years ago.
Interim Targets Also Lowered
Quebec did not limit the revisions to the headline 2035 figure, as interim compliance benchmarks across the entire timeline were reduced.
The 2026 requirement dropped from 32.5% to 26.0% of new vehicle sales, while the 2027 threshold fell from 45% to 30%.
The 2030 target was nearly halved — from 85% to 51%.
Collectively, the changes produce a significantly more gradual electrification curve than the one Quebec’s auto dealers and manufacturers were preparing for under the previous rules.
Industry lobby group Corporation des Concessionnaires Automobiles du Quebec had been pushing for even steeper reductions, arguing that the existing targets were disconnected from market conditions.
Quebec’s ZEV standard differs structurally from a typical purchase incentive.
Manufacturers and importers face credit obligations tied to the share of qualifying vehicles in their Canadian sales.
Each fully electric vehicle sold or leased earns one credit, while plug-in hybrids with an electric range above 80 km earn half a credit.
Under transitional rules for 2025 through 2027, PHEVs with shorter electric ranges of 50 to 80 km also earn a partial credit.
Combined with the broader vehicle definitions adopted last year, the reduced targets are considerably easier for automakers to meet than the original all-electric mandate.
The new thresholds reduce the pace at which credit obligations ramp up, giving manufacturers more headroom during a period of slow consumer uptake.
Pressure From Ontario and Industry
Quebec’s move follows months of pressure from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who in March called on both Quebec and British Columbia to scrap their provincial EV sales mandates entirely.
Ford argued that maintaining separate provincial requirements — after Ottawa repealed its own federal mandate — created a fragmented market that put Canadian auto workers at a competitive disadvantage against the United States.
“Existing EV sales mandates in Canada are making our auto sector less competitive and threatening the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Canadian workers,” Ford wrote in letters to both premiers, dated March 17.
Ontario’s auto sector employs nearly 100,000 workers and contributes C$13.3 billion annually to Canada’s economy, Ford noted.
Canadian auto industry leaders echoed the call.
Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, described provincial ZEV mandates as “redundant and duplicative” in a week when Ford, General Motors and Stellantis were all pressing Ottawa for clearer industrial policy.
British Columbia moved in April to cut its own 2035 target from 100% to 75%, aligning with the federal government’s revised ambitions.
Federal Policy Overhaul
In February, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a sweeping auto industry strategy that permanently repealed the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard — the federal regulation that had required 20% of new light-duty vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2026, scaling up to 100% by 2035.
In its place, Carney’s government introduced stricter greenhouse gas emission standards for the 2027-to-2032 model years, paired with a voluntary target of 75% EV sales by 2035 and 90% by 2040.
The approach replaced the “stick” of mandatory sales quotas with a combination of fleet-level emissions regulation and consumer incentives.
Carney framed the shift as one that “focuses on the results that matter to Canadians, while avoiding undue burdens on the Canadian auto industry.”
At the core of the consumer-facing push is the Electric Vehicle Affordability Program, a C$2.3 billion ($1.7 billion), five-year rebate scheme that launched on February 16.
The program offers up to C$5,000 for battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles and up to C$2,500 for plug-in hybrids priced under C$50,000.
Canadian-made vehicles are exempt from the price cap.
In its first three months, EVAP supported more than 24,400 EV sales across Canada, with consumers claiming approximately C$122 million in incentives, according to Transport Canada data.
Eligibility is restricted to vehicles manufactured in Canada or in countries holding active free-trade agreements with Ottawa.
The condition excludes Chinese-built vehicles and creates a parallel dynamic with the Canada-China EV import quota Carney negotiated in January during a state visit to Beijing.
Under that deal, up to 49,000 Chinese-built EVs can enter Canada per year at a tariff rate of 6.1%, replacing the 100% surtax Ottawa had imposed in 2024.
The quota is set to grow to roughly 70,000 units by 2031, with a rising share reserved for vehicles priced under C$35,000.
Chinese-made vehicles have already begun arriving under the arrangement.
Tesla Model 3 sedans from the company’s Shanghai plant were among the first — the same variant Quebec recently cleared for its provincial C$2,000 Roulez vert rebate.
Canadian EV Sales Still Far From Targets
Policy retreats at both levels come against a backdrop of sluggish EV adoption.
Zero-emission vehicles accounted for roughly 12.1% of Canadian new vehicle sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to S&P Global Mobility — well short of the 20% target that had been set for 2026 under the now-repealed federal standard.
Sales had dropped sharply through most of 2025 after federal and provincial incentive programs expired, with ZEV shares falling to around 7-8% from nearly 20% at their 2024 peak.
Quebec remained the strongest provincial market, finishing Q4 2025 with a 21.3% ZEV share, followed by British Columbia at 22.5%.
Domestic EV production is minimal.
Government data published in March showed that Canada sold just 1,370 domestically manufactured EVs in 2025 — a figure that underscores the country’s dependence on imports.
Only two electric vehicle models are currently assembled in Canada, both for export-oriented production.
The Conservative Party has seized on the production gap, with leader Pierre Poilievre proposing a Canada-US “tariff-free auto pact” and calling for the cancellation of Carney’s Chinese EV quota deal.
Quebec’s Emissions Challenge
Road transportation remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec, accounting for 33% of the province’s total output.
The government has also retreated on its broader climate commitments, extending the deadline for a 37.5% emissions reduction below 1990 levels from 2030 to 2035.
Quebec still operates the Roulez Vert Rebate program — though the incentive has been reduced to C$2,000 for 2026 and is scheduled to be phased out entirely in 2027.
The province reported more than 240,000 electric vehicles on its roads as of early 2025, and EV penetration had exceeded 20% of new vehicle sales before the incentive disruptions.
Between March 2025 and March 2026, new electric vehicle registrations rose 160% in Quebec following the return of federal support through EVAP.
The 80% target still makes Quebec’s 2035 ambition more aggressive than the federal government’s 75% goal and exceeds British Columbia’s newly revised 75% threshold.
Quebec is the only Canadian province that has retained a ZEV sales standard above the federal baseline.
