Canada is following in the footsteps of places like California, the U.K., and France in becoming the latest government to set a target date for ending sales of gas cars. Reuters reported that on Tuesday the country’s Transport Minister Omar Alghabra set 2035 as the target year for a stop-sale on new gas cars and light-duty trucks. The country also set 2050 as the target for net-zero emissions. From Reuters:
“We are committed to aligning Canada’s zero-emission vehicles sales targets with those of the most ambitious North American jurisdictions.”
The government is aware that more needs to be done to prepare. Nearly half a billion dollars (U.S.) has already been put into a rebate program for EV purchases. Minster Alghabra was quoted as saying “We know that we need to do more.” but didn’t give specifics as to what “more” was.
CBC News spoke with a policy advisor at Clean Energy Canada and was told that Candian EV sales are just three or four percent of the total market. The country wants to be at 10 percent by 2025. This has left the Canadian automotive industry to ask questions. The Global Automakers of Canada has said they agree with the targets but wanted more details as to how the transition to 100 percent of sales being zero emissions by 2035 would actually work. But the government is determined to press ahead, with Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson saying: “By and large, the gas cars will be done by 2050. They will simply be too old.”
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