Canada is committed to decarbonizing the country's transportation sector and becoming a global leader in zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). In the last few years, we have seen a steady growth of Canada’s ZEV market share. Several federal, provincial, and territorial government actions are helping to drive this transition, including through ZEV and GHG emissions standards, purchase incentives, and investments in charging infrastructure. Based on Transport Canada’s analysis of data acquired from IHS Markit, the ZEV share of light-duty vehicles sales was 5.6% in 2021, 3.8% in 2020, up from 3.1% in 2019 and 2.3% in 2018.
To move to decarbonization of the transportation sector, we need significantly more ZEVs on the road. That is why the Government of Canada is committing to a mandatory 100% zero-emission vehicle sales target by 2035 for all new light -duty vehicles. As announced in Canada's 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy, the Government is developing a light-duty ZEV sales mandate for new vehicle purchases, which will set annually increasing requirements towards achieving 100% ZEV sales by 2035, including interim targets of at least 20% by 2026 and at least 60% by 2030.
In terms of annual new ZEV sales, these targets would translate to approximately:
- 395,000 new ZEV sales in 2026
- 1.2 million new ZEV sales in 2030; and
- 2.0 million new ZEV sales in 2035.
In terms of total ZEVs on the road, steady annual progress towards these targets would translate to approximately:
- 1.4 million ZEVs on the road by 2026 (about 5% of total light-duty vehicles on the road)
- 4.6 million on the road by 2030 (about 16% of total light-duty vehicles on the road); and
- 12.4 million on the road by 2035 (about 40% of total light-duty vehicles on the road).
Click here to view more details on these projected ZEV sales and stock figures, including on methodology and caveats.