The StatsCan data shows there was an incremental increase in new battery-electric vehicle registrations in 2023 over the previous year

Battery-electric vehicles account for 1.3 per cent of all new vehicle registrations in 2023, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

In real numbers, that translates to 329,402 new battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) on the road in Canada in 2023. The overwhelming majority — 327,723 — are light-duty passenger vehicles.

The 2023 percentage is a slight increase from StatsCan data in 2022 when BEVs accounted for 0.9 per cent of new annual registrations, or, in real numbers, 222,306 vehicles.

Sales by automaker

In an effort to better understand automaker experiences with EV sales in Canada, Electric Autonomy reached out to the members of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association and the Global Automakers of Canada (plus Tesla) to request their BEV sales numbers from 2021 to the present.

Volvo, Vinfast and Maserati declined through a spokesperson to provide sales information. Meanwhile Tesla, BMW, Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover did not respond to the request.

However, 12 other automakers, including the largest ones, did disclose the information. Among the salient data, many manufacturers revealed  strong numbers for 2024, including record sales in Q3

Canadian jurisdictions

Every province and territory in Canada, with the exception of Nunavut, recorded an increase in BEV registrations between 2022 and 2023, according to StatsCan.

Quebec is the clear Canadian leader with 127,066 new BEVs registered in 2023, making up 2.1 per cent of annual new registrations in the province. Overall the registrations in 2023 account for 35 per cent of Quebec’s total 365,566 BEVs registered since 2017).

For 2023, British Columbia follows with 98,031 units (2.7 per cent of new provincial registrations) and Ontario is third with 83,805 units (1.0 per cent of new provincial registrations).

In total, tabulating StatsCan’s registration data between 2017-2023, there are at least 931,542 battery-electric vehicles on the road in Canada.