The Trudeau government’s electric vehicle mandate will cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $100 billion to achieve, new federal estimates show.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement found that a bulk of the spending will be for increased electricity usage and could lead to lower consumer choice.
“The proposed amendments are expected to lead to a loss of consumer choice as the non-zero emission vehicles which are preferred by some will eventually be phased out of the light duty vehicle market,” wrote Environment Canada.
“Furthermore zero emission vehicles are expected to generally cost more than non-zero emission vehicles and this vehicle price increase could lead to a reduction in the quantity of vehicles purchased.”
Electricity usage alone will cost $55.5 billion, while $24.5 billion could be spent by consumers on purchasing electric vehicles and charging stations. Meanwhile the federal government would have to dish out $16 billion in subsidies to manufacturers and another $1.7 billion in subsidies for buyers.
Last month, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault unveiled his government’s plan to require all vehicles sold in Canada by the year 2035 to be electric or hybrid.
The policy analysis statement also outlined another $680 million in spending on electric charging stations will be required, as well as $500 million worth of Canada Infrastructure Bank financing. The total estimate of $99.4 billion in costs does not include maintenance and other costs like insurance.
“Installation costs have not been accounted for in this analysis and may be underestimated,” wrote analysts.
With regard to electric vehicle use, the federal government has fallen short of targets it has set out for its own fleets.
According to an Inquiry of Ministry from 2022, less than 5% of government owned vehicles met low-emission standards set out federally.
Of the 2,899 vehicles purchased by Ottawa since 2020, only 137 of the cars were fully electric and another 782 were hybrid.
