Canada Incentivizing Electric Vehicles
Just about every day you can open up a newspaper or news website and find articles on climate change and carbon tax. As Canada continues to increase its efforts to fight climate change, more and more Canadians are feeling guilt as they pull up to the fuel pump. Over the past half-decade, the Canadian government has introduced a ton of electric vehicle rebates and incentives to get more Canadians behind the wheel of electric cars. In this article, we’re going to tell you everything there is to know about electric vehicle rebates, which vehicles are eligible and the cheapest electric cars on the market.
Why Buy an Electric Car?
There are so many reasons why more and more Canadians are buying electric vehicles. Whether you’re a first-time car buyer or about to buy your fifth vehicle, the economic and environmental impact is one of the main drivers of the explosion of electric vehicles. Car manufacturers are noticing this spike in consumers looking to go electric, so it’s no surprise that just about every major manufacturer has come out with multiple electric car models. Consumers also need to decide whether they have a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or a battery-powered electric vehicle (BEV).
Electric Car Rebates in Canada
The push from the government to have more Canadians go green came in 2019 when they announced that $300 million would go towards incentivizing Canadians to buy electric cars. The funding was to be spread over three years but they added an additional $287 million last year because of the significant growth in popularity. It’s expected that the total funding worth $587 million will be used up by 2022. The government hopes to see that by 2025, all light-duty cars bought be electric.
This incentive program is called iZEV and it stands for Incentive Zero Emission Vehicle. The program offers up to a $5,000 rebate for any Canadian buyer who purchases a zero-emission vehicle.
What is Considered a Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV)?
Battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell all qualify as a ZEV. The program has two tiers, one tier offers a $5,000 rebate while the other offers a $2,500 rebate. Battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell and longer-range plugins qualify for the $5,000 rebate while shorter-range plug-ins qualify for the $2,500 rebate.
In order to qualify for either of the two rebates, the retail price of the vehicle must be under $45,000 and has to be on this list of IZEV vehicles. Your rebate comes right at the dealership and is only available to new vehicles.
Electric Vehicle Rebates by Province
It’s important to know that only 7 provinces offer electric vehicle rebates, and they all vary in their policies. Here are the provinces that do offer EV rebates and how they work.
British Columbia
British Columbia offers plenty of electric vehicle incentives, including $3,000 for buying new PHEVs, BEV’s and fuel cell vehicles with a retail price of under $55,000. British Columbia also introduced what’s known as the “SCRAP IT” program, where you can get between $3,000 and $6,000 for trading in your gas-powered vehicle for an electric vehicle. If you’re able to meet all the provincial and federal standards, you could save up to $14,000 on an electric vehicle in British Columbia!
Ontario
Unfortunately, under Doug Ford’s conservative government, Ontario got rid of all of its provincial electric vehicle incentive programs. This is incredibly unfortunate for Ontario car buyers looking to go electric because before it was scrapped in September of 2018, you could get rebates up to $14,000.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick has an electric vehicle rebate program that works very similarly to the federal program where you can get a $5,000 rebate on new models and a $2,500 rebate on used models. The program is able to be used in combination with the federal program, allowing buyers to save up to $10,000 in rebates.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador offer an electric vehicle rebate program called the “Electric Vehicle Accelerator”. The incentive programs offer rebates of up to $2,500 on new vehicles and can be used in conjunction with the federal incentive program. If you check all the boxes for both the provincial and federal program, you could save up to $7,500 on an electric car.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia recently introduced its provincial rebate program where you can get up to a $3,000 rebate that can be used in conjunction with the federal rebate. Eligibility is only on PHEV or BEV vehicles with a retail price of under $60,000.
Prince Edward Island
PEI’s rebate program was introduced in April 2021 and has since seen a spike in popularity. The program allows for a rebate of up to $5,000 on a new or used electric vehicle and a rebate of $2,500 on hybrid vehicles. Again, this program is able to be used in conjunction with the federal program, allowing savings of up to $10,000. Additionally, the province will add a Level 2 charger to the deal at no extra cost.
Quebec
Quebec wins as the province with the most generous rebate program with rebates up to $8,000 on new PHEV or BEV vehicles. The vehicle needs to have a retail price of under $60,000 and the provincial rebate can be combined with the federal rebate, potentially saving you up to $13,000!
How To Get An Electric Vehicle Rebate
Many Canadians assume that the process of getting an electric vehicle rebate will be one that requires a ton of paperwork and patience, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. You get your rebate at the point of purchase, meaning whichever dealership you buy from is responsible for taking care of all of the paperwork you wanted to avoid while ensuring you get your rebate!
Looking to Buy an Electric Car?
If you’re ready to buy an electric or gas-powered car, check out our rates page to see the current rates of lenders across the country. Once you’ve seen our rates page, check out our car loan calculator to see a rough estimate of what your monthly payments will be!
