B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix hinted Friday that changes could be coming to the province’s electric vehicle mandate, after the federal government hit pause and launched a review of its own, similar program.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that Ottawa will delay plans to impose minimum sales requirements of EVs for 2026 model year vehicles as it conducts a 60-day review of the federal mandate, citing “financial challenges” in the Canadian auto industry amid the trade war with the U.S.
The mandate had required 20 per cent of new vehicles sold in 2026 to be zero-emission, ratcheting up to 100 per cent by 2035.
British Columbia’s own EV mandate is more aggressive, requiring 26 per cent of sales to be zero-emission in 2026, rising to 100 per cent by 2035.
Dix would not get into details about potential changes, saying the path forward would be “very clear shortly” when the province publishes its wider review of its CleanBC climate program.
“The direction we’re going in is to address affordability and improve the charging network,” Dix said, adding that with more than 210,000 EVs on the road in B.C., the province had already surpassed the federal mandate target.
“I think the targets for 2026 are less an issue, but we’ll give an indication on that as well shortly, working with all the different reviews we’re having. And then in addition to that, we have to address the target for 2030, which is clearly unaligned with the current conditions — so we have to make changes in those targets.“
Dix cited the end of federal rebates, the trade war and consumer sentiment turning against Tesla as examples of unfavourable “current conditions” in the EV market.
But he said the province was having success in rapidly expanding its charging network, another factor in convincing people to make the switch.
B.C. has, to date, been a Canadian leader in EV adoption, with 20.7 per cent of new vehicle shoppers snapping one up in 2024, according to Statistics Canada. But the momentum has slowed significantly this year, after both the federal and provincial governments phased out their electric vehicle subsidies.
The New Car Dealers’ Association of B.C. said EV sales started at about 19 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 before falling to around 15 per cent through the spring.
The auto industry has been calling for the mandate to be suspended, something B.C. Conservative Finance Critic Peter Milobar also endorsed.
“I think at a minimum, the province needs to do the same thing and pause the EV mandates for the 2026 model year, re-evaluate and recalibrate if they’re even needed in moving forward into the future,” he said.
“But at a minimum, there needs to be an immediate standing down of the prevention of EV mandates for the 2026 model years, so that consumers know how to properly plan and the buying public knows what impacts there will or won’t be to the prices of vehicles moving forward.”
An internal technical review of B.C.’s Zero-Emission Vehicles Act and Regulation obtained by Global News in June showed the province was considering “several changes” to the legislation “to respond to current economic conditions, support affordability for consumers, and lessen pressures on automakers.”
The document said changes could include revising the 2030 zero-emission sales targets, amending compliance ratios for battery electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, changing the percentage of plug-in hybrid dealers that can sell under the law, and changing range requirements to ensure more vehicles qualify for credits.
Dix said Friday that B.C. would be advocating to the federal government for more EV affordability measures.
And he pinned Ottawa’s Friday pause on conditions in Ontario, arguing Canada should adopt a harmonized standard for “provinces that want to have policies that promote electrification.”
“We’re in a time when I think this is a really fair argument for the industry, like not a standard for Quebec and a standard of B.C., and then it’s another standard for Canada, ” Dix said.
“There should be a standard that’s aligned.“
In June, Federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin told reporters outside the House of Commons that “there will be a consumer rebate,” with few other details given at the time.