B.C. and Ontario are the only other provinces in double digits for sales incentive claims, while the Toyota bZ is the program’s most popular EV
Quebec car buyers accounted for more EVAP subsidies than all other provinces combined up to April 30, 2026. – iStock
B.C. and Ontario are the only other provinces in double digits for sales incentive claims, while the Toyota bZ is the program’s most popular EV
The Canadian government has released statistics on the Electric Vehicle Affordability Program (EVAP) incentive payouts, and they show one province has taken advantage of the funding more than all others combined.
Canadian electric vehicle buyers claimed 24,389 rebates worth $107,107,500 up to April 30. Of those, Quebec drivers have taken 41 per cent of the rebates with 12,232, which add up to 52 per cent of the dollar value at $55,647,500.
British Columbia is next with 4,844 rebates for a 19.8 per cent dollar share, then Ontario with 4,942 rebates and 19.2 per cent of the dollar value. The rest of the provinces and territories come in with low single-digit percentages, or less.
| Province | Number of Rebates | Value of Rebates | % of Total Rebate Value | % of BEV Rebates |
| Que. | 12,232 | $55,647,500.00 | 52.0% | 82.0% |
| B.C | 4,844 | $21,230,000.00 | 19.8% | 75.3% |
| Ont. | 4,942 | $20,612,500.00 | 19.2% | 66.8% |
| Alta. | 969 | $3,972,500.00 | 3.7% | 64.0% |
| Man. | 468 | $1,960,000.00 | 1.8% | 67.5% |
| N.S | 342 | $1,362,500.00 | 1.3% | 59.4% |
| N.B | 266 | $1,022,500.00 | 1.0% | 53.8% |
| Sask. | 128 | $490,000.00 | 0.5% | 53.1% |
| Nfld. | 94 | $385,000.00 | 0.4% | 63.8% |
| P.E.I. | 94 | $380,000.00 | 0.4% | 61.7% |
| Yukon | 7 | $32,500.00 | 0.0% | 85.7% |
| N.W.T. | 3 | $12,500.00 | 0.0% | 66.7% |
| TOTAL | 24,389 | $107,107,500.00 | 100.0% | 75.7% |
Quebec drivers also overwhelmingly went for BEVs, at 82 per cent of that province’s total EVAP incentives. B.C. claims were 75.3 per cent BEVs, while Ontario had 66.8 per cent. (BEVs are eligible for $5,000 incentive vs the $2,500 for PHEVs, hence why Ontario had a lower dollar value than B.C. despite having more rebates).
(The government’s data does not reflect dollar values, however it does differentiate between BEV and PHEV rebates, the amounts of which are assumed here. Leases are valued at the maximum. Of the list of 24,389 records, 9,994, or 41 per cent, are leases, and EVAP pro-rates lease incentives by term [48-month = 100 per cent, 12 month = 25 per cent]. The data has no lease-term field, so it can’t be pro-rated.)
Top 10 EV sales
Looking at vehicles purchased through EVAP, the Toyota bZ topped the list with almost 17 per cent of total rebates, while its rebadged Subaru version, the Solterra, is in the No. 10 spot. Only two PHEVs made the top 10.
| Vehicle | Rebates | Percentage of sales |
| Toyota bZ | 4,088 | 16.8% |
| Chevrolet Equinox EV | 3,065 | 12.6% |
| Toyota Prius PHEV | 2,801 | 11.5% |
| Kia Niro EV | 1,639 | 6.7% |
| Nissan Leaf | 1,488 | 6.1% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | 1,455 | 6.0% |
| Hyundai Kona Electric | 1,298 | 5.3% |
| Ford Escape PHEV | 1,116 | 4.6% |
| Fiat 500e | 958 | 3.9% |
| Subaru Solterra | 744 | 3.1% |
BEVs or PHEVs eligible for EVAP must have a final transactional price of less than $50,000. If the vehicles are built in Canada, however, there is no price limit.
Imported vehicles must also come from a country with which Canada has a free-trade agreement, such as the U.S. Chinese-built EVs, therefore, are not eligible.
The return of incentives
On February 5, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a return of EV sales incentives with EVAP. The program, which officially launched February 16, offers $5,000 for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and $2,500 for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) for the remainder of 2026.
Next year, BEV and PHEV rebates drop to $4,000 and $2,000 respectively, then to $3,000 and $1,500 for 2028 and 2029, and $2,000 and $1,000 for the final year of the program in 2030.
The federal government budgeted $2.275 billion for EVAP over five years.
