March 24, 2025
The leaders of Canada’s auto groups presented a united front at a press event at the opening of the Vancouver International Auto Show last week and called on the B.C. government to pause and revisit its onerous zero-emission vehicle mandates.
CADA along with the leaders of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (CVMA) and the Global Automakers of Canada each made statements to a crowd of about 80 reporters.
Tim Reuss, CADA’s President & CEO said B.C. Premier David Eby has said previously that he does not want consumers to have to choose between vehicle affordability and climate action. Reuss said if the province’s EV mandates remain in place in their current form, that will happen very soon.
“Any EV regulation must align consumer demand, adequate charging infrastructure and purchase incentives in order to be successful: none of those currently exist at the level required in order to support the numbers contemplated by the EV mandates,” said Reuss.
“If B.C. wants to remain at the forefront of the transition towards zero-emission vehicles, it must adjust, update and recalibrate its original plans to take into account the changed market realities,” said Reuss to reporters.
Reuss said CADA would make the case in meetings with government officials that the province needs to make “sensible, realistic adjustments” to the original plan announced more than six years ago, “without abandoning the larger goal of a cleaner and greener future.”
The auto groups cited a new analysis from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants that found the province’s target of 90 per cent ZEV sales by 2030 is just not achievable.
“We have new evidence that suggests the government’s ZEV sales targets (Zero Emission Vehicles Act) — that were set in at a time very different from the challenges we are currently facing — will not be achieved,” said David Adams, President and CEO of the Global Automakers of Canada, in a joint press statement.
At the Vancouver press event, Brian Kingston, President and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (CVMA) said: “The provincial government has established the most aggressive EV mandate in North America,” said Kingston. “The province will not come close to the mandated target for 2030.”
Kingston said “at best” EV sales in B.C. could reach approx. 57% by 2030, and that’s if no tariffs are put in place.
He said the only way automakers could comply is to restrict the sales of ICE vehicles or pay huge penalties as high as $20,000 on each vehicle sold. “New vehicle sales in this province will flatline and that will have serious consequences for jobs at dealerships across this province,” said Kingston.
“The mandate must be paused and recalibrated to reflect real-world demand for EVs,” he said. “Failing to act now will worsen the affordability crisis and put tens of thousands of jobs in the province at risk.”
Read More: BC ZEV – CB VEZ
