EV sales collapse by 35% as gas car purchases surge: StatsCan

While Canadians flocked to purchase gas-powered vehicles over the summer, electric vehicle sales continued to nosedive, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

While Canadians flocked to purchase gas-powered vehicles over the summer, electric vehicle sales continued to nosedive, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

Electric vehicle sales dropped 35.2 per cent in June compared to last year. Zero-emission vehicles comprised only 7.9 per cent of total new motor vehicles sold that month, with 14,090 entering the market.

Meanwhile, 177,313 new motor vehicles were sold in Canada in June, up 6.2 per cent from June 2024.

“In dollar terms, sales increased 3.1 per cent during the same period. In June 2025, there were more new motor vehicles sold in every province compared with the same period in 2024,” reads the Statistics Canada data.

“Sales of new passenger cars increased 19.5 per cent in June 2025, marking the first gain in this subsector since November 2024. In June 2025, sales of new trucks (+4.3 per cent) were also higher than one year earlier.”

Despite dwindling sales, the Carney government remains committed to its electric vehicle mandate of having 60 per cent of all vehicles sold be ZEVs by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035, banning all motor vehicle sales.

A recent Leger poll found that Canadians largely reject the 2035 EV ban, with nearly 70 per cent saying it’s unrealistic, while 71 per cent said the mandate should be repealed.

Most Liberal voters also oppose the mandate. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has warned the mandate would cost at least $300 billion in grid upgrades and charging stations, while destroying rural communities and wiping out Canada’s auto sector.

Prime Minister Mark Carney was warned by auto industry leaders in May that refusing to repeal the mandate would have an industry-wide negative impact, affecting thousands of Canadians employed by those companies.

The letter, signed by the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota and Stellantis, was dated May 26.

It warns that "if the mandate is not urgently repealed, it will inflict serious damage on automakers, the dealership network, and the hundreds of thousands of Canadians employed in the sector."

Carney met with several of the signatories in July to discuss the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade dispute, which has threatened the auto industry with tariffs.

Several CEOs reportedly raised concerns about revoking the mandate during that meeting, but the Carney government has yet to act.