B.C. redrawing EV sales mandate, scraps goal of 100% by 2035, leaves rebates to Feds

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s energy minister says the province will reduce targets for electric-vehicle sales, scrapping a mandate that every new vehicle sold in the province must be zero-emission by 2035, while announcing any rebates for electric-vehicle buyers will be a federal responsibility.

Adrian Dix told reporters on Tuesday that the 100-per-cent mandate in 2035 and a 90-per-cent goal for 2030 were no longer “realistic,” and the NDP government would introduce legislation next year to revise the goals, bringing them in line with targets the federal government is expected to announce in coming months.

“B.C. currently leads Canada in EV targets, and we are proud to be a North American leader in EV adoption, with more than 210,000 ZEVs (zero-emission vehicles) on provincial roads,” Dix said in a statement.

The province had to “recalibrate B.C.’s targets,” it said.

Dix told reporters in Victoria that the new targets had not yet been set because a review under CleanBC, the province’s climate plan, was still underway.

He said the province was on track to hit a sales mandate of 26 per cent by next year.

Federal officials said earlier this month that Ottawa would unveil proposed changes to its electric-vehicles sales mandate later this year, which was originally set to require zero-emission sales of 20 per cent next year, rising to 100 per cent in 2035.

But on Sept. 5, Prime Minister Mark Carney paused a 2026 rollout of the EV mandate and launched a review.

Dix said the B.C. government was waiting until Ottawa completed its review, adding that provincial and federal targets “should be the same.”

His ministry said in its news release that it was the province’s “strong view that there should not be different targets in B.C. and Canada.”

“In the current climate, it is vital for B.C. and Canada to be aligned, and it is B.C.’s view that there should be one clear, harmonized sales target for the country to provide clarity and accelerate adoption,” it said in the statement.

Blair Qualey, president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC, said in the statement that the announcement represented “helpful interim steps that provide short-term relief for consumers and dealers.”

Qualey said the provincial government’s review of ZEV mandates “must directly address affordability, including EV rebate support.”

Dix said it would be up to the federal government to provide any rebates to encourage zero-emission vehicle sales, adding that B.C. would focus on building up the charging infrastructure.

The provincial government paused its provincial rebate program in May, citing a “time of economic instability” and following Ottawa’s decision to stop its rebate program in January 2025.

The province has 7,000 public charging stations, and Dix said in the statement that it was on track to meet a target of 10,000 by 2030.

Dix’s announcements come six months after Energy Futures, an energy think-tank, released government documents questioning whether B.C. could hit the 90-per-cent sales target by 2030.

The documents, which The Canadian Press has since obtained, says “recent developments” led to a consensus that reaching the target will be “challenging.”

The documents say EV adoption in B.C. has “levelled off,” because of numerous factors, including affordability concerns, gaps in the charging infrastructure and changes in policy.

Zero-emission vehicles accounted for 22.4 per cent of all light-duty vehicle sales in the province in 2024, up from 0.8 per cent in 2015, but down from 22.7 per cent in 2023.

B.C. introduced the zero-emission mandate in September 2019 through legislation as part of its CleanBC program to lower emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2025.