Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government wants to institute a mandate that at least 20 per cent of new cars offered for sale by 2026 have zero emissions, as part of Canada’s plan to meet its 2030 emissions-reduction goal.
The document, introduced Tuesday in parliament by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, promises an additional $9.1 billion in new spending to reach Canada’s climate targets. Overall, the government aims to reduce emissions more than 40 per cent by 2030.
Releasing a climate plan is a key toward turning the Trudeau government’s lofty environmental rhetoric into reality, and Guilbeault’s outlines support for the transition to electric vehicles, including a mandate that at least one in five new light-duty vehicles offered for sale by 2026 have zero emissions. The government has previously said it aims to hit 100 per cent in that category by 2035.
The Canada Infrastructure Bank will spend $500 million on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and the government will put forward an extra $400 million towards building charging stations.
Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were 730 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Canada is the only country in the Group of Seven to see its harmful emissions actually rise between 2015 and 2019. Trudeau has blamed his country’s record on emissions to date on the previous Conservative government, which in 2011 withdrew from the Kyoto protocol, a precursor to the 2015 Paris agreement. The prime minister also has said four years of climate skepticism in the U.S. under Donald Trump also effectively held Canada back.
Keyword: Trudeau climate plan wants 20% of cars to be EVs by 2026