Ottawa’s EV Rebates Are Coming Back—But No One Knows When

The federal government is looking to bring back rebates for electric vehicle buyers, though it hasn’t finalized what the new program will look like, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said Tuesday.

The previous rebate initiative, known as the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program, launched in 2019 but was paused earlier this year after it ran out of funding in January.

In an interview with The Canadian Press outside the House of Commons—where she spent much of question period responding to Conservative criticism of the Liberals’ EV policies—Dabrusin confirmed that a replacement program is in the works. “Will it be named, iZEV? That I can’t tell you. But there will be a consumer rebate,” she said.

The iZEV program gave up to $5,000 off the cost of a new EV. Between May 2019 and January 2025, it distributed nearly $3 billion in rebates for more than 500,000 new passenger vehicles. The Liberal Party’s election platform hinted it would look into bringing it back somehow.

On Tuesday, Conservatives used question period to call for the EV mandate to be scrapped, pointing to potential impacts on Canada’s auto sector and ongoing concerns about affordability. They also debated a motion aimed at pressuring the government to “immediately end their ban on gas-powered vehicles.”

The federal mandate requires that all new light-duty passenger vehicles sold in Canada be zero-emission by 2035. Used gas-powered cars can still be sold, and plug-in hybrids will remain eligible for sale under the policy.

“It’s been in place since 2023. I don’t see why the Conservatives believe we need to change it in the face of what we’re facing with the U.S. tariffs on the auto industry,” Dabrusin said.

Automakers in Canada have increased calls for the mandate to be dropped, especially as EV sales have slowed following the end of the federal rebate.

EVs remain more expensive than gas models, and recent sales figures reflect that. According to StatsCan, zero-emission vehicles made up just 8.11 per cent of new vehicle sales in the first quarter of 2025—a big decline from 16.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2024. In April, the most recent month for which data is available, that figure fell further to 7.53 per cent.

Once 2026 rolls around, the federal mandate will require at least 20 per cent of new light-duty vehicle sales to be zero-emission. That share will increase each year until reaching 100 per cent by 2035, and it remains to be seen if automakers can even meet those deadlines.