TRAN APPEARANCE: OAG FOLLOW-UP AUDIT ON RAIL SAFETY AND 2021-22 MAIN ESTIMATES - MARCH 25, 2021.

31. ZERO-EMISSION VEHICLES

Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles Program (iZEV)

LOCATION: NATIONAL

Issue/Source: Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles Program (iZEV)

Date: MARCH 19, 2021

Suggested Responses

  • The federal Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) Program provides a point-of-sale rebate of up to $5,000 for the purchase or lease of eligible Zero- Emission Vehicles, as the higher purchase price of ZEVs is a barrier to having more of these vehicles on our roads.

  • ZEVs have the potential to significantly reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One ZEV on the road can prevent up to four metric tonnes of GHG emissions per year. 

  • From the outset, the Program has showed strong results. Since its launch in May 2019, over 79,000 Canadians and Canadian businesses have benefited from the point-of-sale incentive.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

  • Light-duty vehicle emissions account for approximately 50% of Canada's transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, and 12% of the country's total emissions.

  • To that end, the Government of Canada announced ZEV sales targets of: 10% of new light duty vehicles sold in Canada are to be ZEVs by 2025, 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

  • To accelerate progress towards these targets, Budget 2019 provided $700 million for a suite of federal measures to encourage the adoption of ZEVs, including $300 million over three years to Transport Canada to launch the iZEV Program.   

  • The Program exhausted its Budget 2019 funding over a year earlier than planned and additional funding of $287 million, over the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 fiscal years, was announced by the Prime Minister on December 11, 2020.