Market Snapshot: Zero emission vehicles in Canada—latest trends, including region- and make/model-level insights

Release date: 2025-08-06

Prior to the reduction observed in the first quarter of 2025, zero emission vehicles (or ZEVs – including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles [PHEVs] and battery-electric vehicles [BEVs]) continued to increase their share of new vehicles sold in Canada, reaching 15% of total new motor vehicle registrations in 2024 (a proxy for new vehicle sales).^Footnote 1

Total vehicle sales increased by 8% in 2024^Footnote 2 compared to the previous year but remained below pre-pandemic levels. Multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), a category that includes sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossovers, continued to grow their share in new registrations and now account for close to two out of every three new vehicles sold in Canada (at the expense of passenger cars and vans). The mix of fuels used to power Canadians’ new motor vehicles is also changing, with a clear trend of growing popularity for gasoline hybrids and ZEVs – prior to the Q1 2025 reduction (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: New motor vehicle registrations in Canada, by vehicle type, and by selected regions

ZEVs were responsible for 60% of the net increase in total vehicle registrations in Canada in 2024 and accounted for one in seven new vehicles sold that year. But, depending on the region and the vehicle type, that number was as high as one in three^Footnote 3 or one in four^Footnote 4 new vehicles sold in 2024. For comparison, Canada’s 2024 share of ZEVs in new vehicle sales is higher than that in the United States (around 10%) but lower than the 22% observed globally.^Footnote 5

Although the Government of Canada currently has an electric vehicle availability standard with ZEV regulated sales targets from 2026 onwards,^Footnote 6 the share and volume of ZEV sales in Canada is likely to be lower in 2025 than that for 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, Canada’s ZEV sales declined by 23% relative to the same quarter in 2024, while their share of total sales was down to 9%.^Footnote 7

Weaker ZEV sales in 2025 is likely to be the case for a variety of reasons, including current levels of economic uncertainty associated with tariffs,^Footnote 8 backlash against one of the top selling ZEV brands (Tesla),^Footnote 9 as well as the recent pause, cancellation, and winddown of EV incentive programs across Canada—including the iZEV program at the federal level (paused in January 2025), British Colombia’s Go Electric Passenger Vehicle Rebate Program (paused in May 2025), and the temporary suspension (February-April 2025) and incoming reduction in financial assistance amounts from Quebec’s Roulez vert program.^Footnote 10

Recent trends in Canadian ZEV sales

General trends in ZEVs adoption across Canada through 2023 were covered in a previous market snapshot. In this snapshot, we use data from the iZEV program^Footnote 11 to provide additional insights on Canada’s ZEV market for the past five years (2020-24).^{Footnote 12Footnote 13}

At the national level, over the 2020-24 period, the split for ZEV sales between BEVs and PHEVs is about 75/25, so for every three BEVs sold, one PHEV is sold.^Footnote 14 For BEVs, the top five models (dominated by Tesla & Hyundai) account for just over one-half of all BEVs sold across Canada. For PHEVs, the top five models (dominated by Mitsubishi & Toyota) account for close to two-thirds of all PHEV sales. (See Table 1 and Figure 2.)

Table 1: Summary statistics for representative ZEV sales in Canada (2020-24)

To further analyze recent trends in new ZEV sales in Canada, Figures 2 and 3 provide key insights. Figure 2 displays the most popular BEV and PHEV models by region. Figure 3 shows the distribution of BEV and PHEV sales across Canada, with filters for individual vehicle make/model combinations. Both figures are based on cumulative numbers for 2020-24 as a default but can be customized for any range between those years.

Figure 2: New motor vehicle registrations in Canada, by vehicle type, and by selected regions

Figure 3: Representative ZEV sales across Canada by region and by ZEV type and make/model

Date modified:

2025-08-05