Canadians head to the polls on April 28. Where do candidates stand on EV adoption, manufacturing and grid decarbonization?

The upcoming Canadian federal election is happening against a bleak global back drop.

It’s under a dark cloud of trade tariffs, a deep fracture with a longstanding ally and geopolitical uncertainty that voters are heading to polls.

As a result, this is a high stakes election hinging on a handful of key issues, one of which is Canada’s goal to transition to zero-emission transportation, battery manufacturing and grid decarbonization.

Where do each of the parties stand on these matters?

Electric Autonomy outlines the platforms and policies of each party in order that Canadians can know before they vote.

Liberal Party of Canada

Current standings:

• Leader: Mark Carney
• Role: Minority government
• Seats: 152

Current platform pledges:

• Expand Canada’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network by supporting the building of thousands of new stations by 2027. We will also look at ways to reintroduce a purchase incentive worth up to $5,000 that supports Canadian workers and strengthens our domestic supply chains.
• Move forward on Canada’s six major investment tax credits (ITCs) that support clean energy and technology — the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage ITC, Clean Technology ITC, Clean Electricity ITC, Clean Hydrogen ITC, Clean Technology Manufacturing ITC, and Electric Vehicle Supply Chain ITC.
• Enable opportunities for big polluters to support consumers in lowering their carbon footprint. We will work with provinces and territories to seek ways for large emitters to support consumer adoption of green technologies and retrofits, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles, which also help lower household energy bills.

Conservative Party of Canada

Current standings:

• Leader: Pierre Poilievre
• Role: Official opposition
• Seats: 120

Current platform pledges:

• Be champions of Canada’s auto sector by maintaining all existing government supports and the clean incentives for the auto-sector supply chain, and scrapping the planned $20,000 tax on gas-powered cars to preserve choice for consumers without punitive taxes.**
• Cut the federal sales tax on Canadian-made vehicles and launch a Keep Canadians Working Fund until U.S. tariffs are lifted to protect the jobs of autoworkers directly targeted by Trump’s trade war.
• End tax incentives and rebates for made-in-China EVs.

Editor’s note: Electric Autonomy reached out to the Conservative Party seeking clarity on “the planned $20,000 tax on gas-powered cars” statement. We did not receive a response in time for publication, but to the best of Electric Autonomy’s knowledge there is no planned or proposed tax targeting only gas-powered cars in Canada. In addition, Electric Autonomy reached out to the Conservative Party seeking clarity on their intention to end the EV sales mandate in Canada, which the platform implies, but does not explicitly state. We did not receive a response in time for publication.

New Democratic Party of Canada

Current standings:

• Leader: Jagmeet Singh
• Seats: 24

Current platform pledges:

• To help families afford the up-front cost of buying an electric vehicle, we will extend federal rebates for new EVs up to $5,000. And to support local jobs, rebates for made-in-Canada EVs will be doubled to $10,000. And EVs made in China or by companies like Tesla that undermine Canada’s national interest and economic security will be excluded. This will support Canada’s electric vehicles sales mandate to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.

Bloc Québécois

Current standings:

• Leader: Yves-François Blanchet
• Seats: 33

Current platform pledges:

• Il proposera du soutien financier aux efforts du Québec et des provinces pour développer le réseau de bornes de recharge, incluant la recharge en milieux commercial et industriel ainsi qu’aux immeubles multilogements. PLATEFORME POLITIQUE 2025 Le Bloc déposera une loi zéro émission afin d’obliger les concessionnaires automobiles à tenir en stock un minimum de petits véhicules électriques. Il remettra en place un crédit d’impôt d’une durée limitée pour l’achat ou la location d’un véhicule électrique, neuf ou usagé, tout en le modulant selon les revenus et en permettant d’y recourir une seule fois. Il militera pour des mesures encourageant la population à la mobilité durable, par exemple le retour d’un crédit d’impôt pour un abonnement de transport en commun ou l’utilisation d’un service d’autopartage.

Green Party of Canada

• Co-leaders: Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault
• Seats: 2

Current platform pledges:

• Revisit trade restrictions with China to strategically balance economic and environmental goals, maintaining tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles to protect Canadian manufacturing and jobs in our rapidly growing domestic EV sector, while reducing tariffs on Chinese solar panels to accelerate the adoption of affordable renewable energy and create jobs in solar installation.
• Require all passenger ferries to convert to electric or hybrid systems.
• Make rail the hub of transit networks, with light rail and electric bus connections in every city and region.
• Ban the sale of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2030.
• Exempt new and used zero-emission vehicles from federal sales tax.
• Expand EV charging stations at all federal facilities and parking lots.
• Retrofit Canada Post facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and renewable energy generation, including installing solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations at Canada Post facilities