Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday that his government will remove the 2026 electric vehicle availability standard, a regulation that would have required automakers to sell a fixed percentage of EVs next year. Speaking at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Mississauga, Ont., Carney described the decision as a necessary step to ease financial pressures on the auto sector at a time of global trade upheaval.“Some of it is about regulation,” Carney said. “To add flexibility to the automotive sector, we will remove the 2026 electric vehicle availability standard… This will provide immediate financial relief to automakers at a time of increased pressure on their competitiveness.” .He added that the government will launch a 60-day review of the policy to “identify future flexibilities and ways to reduce costs” while advancing new measures to bring “more and more affordable electric vehicles to Canadians.”The prime minister placed the decision in the context of what he called a rupture in the global economy, marked by rising tariffs from the United States, disrupted supply chains, and rapid technological transformation. “We’re moving from an age that lasted decades, an age when free trade was a motor of global economic growth, to a new age, an age of economic nationalism and mercantilism,” Carney said.“Workers displaced from their jobs, supply chains that have existed for decades disrupted… All of this is causing an extreme uncertainty that’s holding back massive amounts of investment.”.In response, Carney unveiled a suite of measures aimed at strengthening Canada’s economic resilience. Small and medium-sized businesses will see their maximum loans from the Business Development Bank of Canada increase from $2 million to $5 million, while large firms will gain access to a new enterprise tariff loan facility offering flexible financing with lower interest rates and longer maturities.He also announced a $5-billion Strategic Response Fund to help companies “pivot to new products and markets, retrain and retain skills, and make our businesses globally competitive.”The announcement extended beyond the auto sector. Carney pledged targeted support for agriculture and seafood industries facing foreign tariffs, including new biofuel production incentives and expanded loan limits for canola producers..He also promised a comprehensive Buy Canadian policy, requiring federal agencies and Crown corporations to prioritize domestic suppliers. “We will build more with Canadian steel, Canadian lumber, Canadian technology, Canadian workers,” Carney said.Despite suspending the EV standard, Carney defended his government’s climate agenda. Asked whether the change signaled a retreat from Canada’s environmental commitments, he said climate action remains a priority but must be pursued alongside competitiveness.“Dealing with climate change is a moral obligation first of all, but at the same time, it’s a trade imperative,” he said. “What this government is focused on is absolutely results, not saying something’s going to happen at a certain time, but giving workers and businesses the tools to make it happen.”.Carney closed by framing the moment as one of both challenge and opportunity. “This is a rupture. It’s a big change that’s been forced on us in a short period of time,” he said. “But if we want our economy to grow — with thriving careers at home and booming exports around the world — we must once again become a country that builds, that builds big and builds fast.”.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Carney to immediately scrap the government’s ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles. "Canadians want the government to end the ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles, they don’t need the government wasting more time reviewing this costly taxpayer boondoggle," said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano."Canadians can’t afford the higher tax and power bills to pay for all the subsidies, charging stations, power plants and transmission lines this ban will require.""Carney doesn’t need to waste time reviewing this taxpayer boondoggle, he should end it now."
