In 2025, just over 18 per cent of all light-duty vehicle sales in B.C. were zero-emission vehicles, down from more than 22 per cent in 2024.Keito Newman/The Globe and Mail
British Columbia is diluting its electric-vehicle mandates, but will remain one of only two Canadian provinces with legislated sales targets.
B.C. Attorney-General Niki Sharma introduced legislation on Wednesday that will reduce the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales mandate to 75 per cent, down from 100 per cent, for the year 2035.
The rules give partial credits for plug‑in hybrid electric vehicles, but none for conventional hybrid vehicles, which are charged only by the engine and regenerative braking.
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Adrian Dix, B.C.’s Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions, said the new law will bring B.C. into alignment with Ottawa’s emerging new policy. The federal government has indicated it intends to reach a 75-per-cent sales benchmark for the year 2035 through a more flexible compliance model than sales targets.
“This is a successful program that has us leading the country in sales,” Mr. Dix told reporters. “We’re very pleased to continue, although we’ve made adjustments in keeping with changing circumstances.”
For 2026 and 2027, the sales target in B.C. will remain at 26 per cent. Dealerships that fail to meet the targets system can use credits that are either banked from previous years when the targets were lower or purchased from other dealers like Tesla who have exceeded requirements.
Joanna Kyriazis, director of policy and strategy at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University, applauded the new rules. “Today’s decision to maintain the province’s own path on EV policy is a win for current and future drivers, cleaner neighbourhoods, and our climate.”
“As gas prices climb past $2 a litre in many parts of B.C., the province’s zero-emission vehicle sales regulation is more important than ever,” she said in a statement.
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But Barry Penner, chair of the Energy Futures Institute, a B.C.-based think tank, said the mandate is flawed and will continue to drive up vehicle costs. “When government policy runs ahead of consumer demand and market realities, it eventually has to be pulled back,” he said in a statement.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in early February that his government would jettison the federal mandate that electric vehicles make up a growing share of all car sales. Federal officials are working toward a replacement policy supposed to be drafted by summer.
Mr. Carney has signalled that his goal is to ensure that by 2035, the average emissions from a new vehicle will be less than half what they are today. The federal Liberal government expects its new rules would lead to 75-per-cent EV sales uptake by that date, down from the 100 per cent pursued by the former policy.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government warns that automakers in the province could “face disproportionate compliance costs, investment risks and logistical challenges” under Ottawa’s new plan.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote to the premiers of Quebec and B.C. in March asking them to drop their electric-vehicle sales targets.
Like B.C. under Mr. Dix’s proposed new law, Quebec has lifted its ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars that would have taken effect in 2035.
But Quebec has maintained a more ambitious target of 90 per cent of new vehicle sales in 2035 to be hybrid plug-in or electric, down from 100-per-cent fully electric.
While B.C. and Quebec lead the country in EV sales, the targets were challenged last year. In 2025, just over 18 per cent of all light-duty vehicle sales in B.C. were ZEVs, down from more than 22 per cent the year prior. The appetite for EVs has waned in part because government rebates have ended, while the tariff dispute with the U.S. has led to a significant drop in Tesla sales in Canada.
Preliminary figures indicate that sales for ZEVs in Quebec have softened as well.