The federal government’s electric vehicle iZEV rebate program is getting another $73-million cash infusion, bringing the total amount invested to $660 million since 2019

The federal government is continuing its efforts to aid and encourage more Canadians to switch over to electric vehicles by topping up, once again, the Incentive for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) rebate program.

The announcement was made this week as part of the government’s Economic and Fiscal update 2021 report, which reads that $73 million will be added to the program, to “allow
Transport Canada to continue offering purchase incentives for zero-emission vehicles until the end of March 2022.”

Originally launched in 2019, the government’s initial investment of $300 million was used up in 20 months. Last year, another $287 million was budgeted into the program, but by the end of October 2021, only around $48 million was left.

The investment of an additional $73 million is now taking the total funding of the iZEV program to almost $660 million since 2019.

During the federal election campaign this fall, the Liberals promised to add $1.5 billion more to the iZEV rebate program over the next four years.

Possible program changes coming

Earlier this week, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra’s office announced potential plans to revisit the iZEVs program next year to make electric SUVs and pickup trucks — which typically cost more than the program’s $45,000 base product cutoff point — eligible for a rebate.

“We know there is more work to do to make ZEVs accessible to a larger segment of the Canadian population,” said Alghabra’s office in an email statement to Electric Autonomy Canada earlier this week. “That’s why our Government is looking at how the program may be revised to better align with current consumer preferences.”

Transport Canada says that between May 2019 and November 2021, over 125,000 Canadians and Canadian businesses have benefitted from the iZEV program. 

“We also know that most Canadians actually purchase their vehicles used rather than new. That is why Transport Canada continues to explore options for providing incentives for used ZEVs, which would broaden access to these cleaner vehicles for a larger portion of Canadians,” said Alghabra’s office in the email statement.