Federal Government Moving Forward on Nationwide Zero-Emission Vehicle Strategy By 2018

The federal government has announced that they are moving forward on developing a nationwide strategy to put more zero-emission vehicles on Canadian roads. They are committing to have a strategy developed by 2018, meeting the targets laid out last December in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

The announcement came from Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Navdeep Bains. The plan is to work with the provinces, industry, and other stakeholders to make a plan that is nationwide, adding more zero-emission vehicles like electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to Canadian roads. To help further the strategy, an advisory group has been established to help solve the issues involved with adding more ZEVs in five main areas: the number of available vehicles, cost of ownership, infrastructure, public awareness, and clean energy jobs.

Transportation accounts for nearly 24 percent of all of Canada's emissions, with about half of that coming from light-duty vehicles like passenger cars and trucks. Garneau said that with the new strategy that Canada is "developing an aggressive strategy to tackle climate change," with Bains stating that it "provides an important opportunity to create highly skilled middle-class jobs reduce carbon emissions and create healthier communities."

Currently, each province has their own ZEV plan. Some provinces, like British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario, heavily incentivize purchases of zero-emission vehicles, but most provinces offer no incentive at all. The federal government has already committed to spending nearly $180 million on improving infrastructure for zero emissions vehicles, including adding charging stations and helping fund hydrogen availability.