Canada the latest country to mandate electric vehicles, petrol and diesel new cars banned from 2035

Canada is the latest country to announce a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

The Canadian Government this week confirmed electric vehicles would be mandated by 2035. Interim targets for 2025 and 2030 – as well as a spate of new buyer incentives and infrastructure investments – were confirmed in parallel, to catalyse the shift.  

Further, companies which commit to building zero-emission vehicles in Canada will receive a 50 per cent corporate tax cut.

Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Lexus, Lincoln, and Toyota currently operate manufacturing facilities in the North American nation, and funds will be allocated to help retool for electric vehicle production.

“Cutting our transportation emissions is one of the most readily achievable and economically beneficial paths Canada can take on the road to net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, the minister for environment and climate change.

“That’s why we are committed to aligning Canada’s zero-emission vehicles sales targets with those of the most ambitious North American jurisdictions," he said, referring to the US state of California, which will similarly ban the sale of petrol cars from 2035.

In May 2020, Norway – where electric vehicles already account for more than 50 per cent of new car sales – announced a comparable ban, effective from 2025. That some month Sweden confirmed electric vehicles would be mandated from 2030.

In September 2020, Boris Johnson’s government in the United Kingdom unveiled plans to prohibit the sale of new fossil fuel-emitting road vehicles from 2030, having previously set a target date of 2040.

Australia currently has no firm deadline to phase out petrol and diesel-powered road transport. However, policies at the state and territory level incentivise electric vehicle uptake in the ACT, Queensland, NSW, and Victoria.