Hybrid-electrics will now generate a half credit while plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles with 80 km-plus electric range will generate a full credit

Canada’s leading zero-emission vehicle adopting jurisdiction is recalibrating its rules and regulations around passenger vehicle decarbonization.

Quebec’s environment minister, Benoit Charette, says the shifting market is forcing the province to reassess its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption standard.

In a bid to transition passenger vehicles in the province to zero-emission Quebec was awarding automakers and dealerships credits for each ZEV sold under its adoption standard.

A battery-electric vehicle (BEV) earned a full credit, while a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV) with an electric range of at least 80 kilometres earned a half credit.

Now, under the changed rules, both a BEV and a 80 km-plus PHEV will earn a full credit, while lower range PHEVs and gasoline-powered, hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) will earn a half credit.

A changing market

Currently, Quebec’s rules says that, by the 2026 model year, 32.5 per cent of all new passenger vehicles sold in the province must be ZEVs. That amount increases to 85 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035.

And, before this year, Quebec was well on its way to meeting those targets hitting nearly 40 per cent ZEV market penetration in Q4 2024.

However, with the “pausing” of the provincial Roulez Vert rebate and the end of the federal Incentive for Zero-Emission Vehicles in January and February, Quebec saw its robust ZEV sales collapse to 13.2 per cent in Q1 2025.

The change to Quebec’s definition of what vehicles constitute a zero-emission vehicle appear to be a direct response to the downturn in sales.

A wider impact?

Previously, Quebec’s ZEV adoption rate artificially raised Canada’s national ZEV adoption rate.

When the province saw a massive decline in sales this year, so too did the rest of the country. That ignited a renewed call from industry groups to aggressively lobby the government to either scrap entirely or pause the federal ZEV Availability Standard, which, they say, is not possible to achieve.

The federal government has yet to indicate it is considering changes to its national standard.

(The federal ZEV sales mandate requires that 20 per cent of all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada next year be zero-emission and rises gradually to 100 per cent by 2035.)

But British Columbia is reviewing its approach (by 2026 26 per cent of new light-duty vehicles sold must be ZEVs, followed by 90 per cent of new light-duty vehicles sold must be ZEVs in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035) and expects to put forward an updated recommendation by the fall.

In a statement, Clean Energy Canada points out that if Canadian provinces or the federal government back track on the ZEV standards it will put the country out of sync with the rest of the world.

Last year, says CEC’s executive director Rachel Doran and director of public affairs Joanna Kyriazis, ZEVs made up one in five vehicles sold worldwide.

This year the global auto market is on track to reach one in four vehicles sold being zero-emission.

In Q4 2024 Canada’s national ZEV adoption rate hit 18.9 per cent, according to S&P Global data.