The move, which is causing ire throughout the BEV community, is in line with the tax an average combustion vehicle pays

Saskatchewan is doubling its road-use charge for battery-electric vehicles from $150 to $300 beginning June, says the province.

Combustion vehicles pay a provincial and federal road-use tax at the pump — around $320 per year for the average vehicle. In accordance with the province’s Fuel Tax Accountability Act, this tax goes towards road and highway maintenance.

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), not requiring fuel, do not automatically pay a road-use tax when recharging. Saskatchewan’s 2021-2022 budget introduced a road-use charge for BEVs requiring an annual fee of $150.

In the province’s 2025-2026 budget that annual fee is doubling to $300.

“Effective June 1, 2025, the charge will be increased from $150 to $300 to better reflect the costs of road maintenance and ensure owners of electric vehicles contribute a more comparable amount to owners of traditional vehicles,” reads the document.

Controversial tax

Saskatchewan was the first province in Canada to impose a road-use tax on BEVs. At the time EV adoption advocates were vocal in their criticism of the measure. They said the tax, in combination with a lack of a provincial EV purchase rebate, would stifle a transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).

(In February 2025 Alberta, which also does not offer a rebate, joined Saskatchewan in charging EV owners an annual $200 road-use tax for EVs. Quebec announced in March it, too, would introduce an annual $125 fee to make up for lost fuel tax.)

In 2021 Saskatchewan had 403 BEVs on its roads. By end of 2024, the province had nearly 2,000 additional BEVs registered.

The 2025-2026 budget states that, “Since 2008-09, more than $13.8 billion has been invested in highways infrastructure and improved over 21,800 km of the provincial roads network.” A $300 road tax on Saskatchewan’s roughly would net the province about $720,000 per year.