We have reported many times before that British Columbia and Quebec have the highest rates of ZEV adoption in Canada. Some recent figures reaffirm this point, and once again show the importance of incentive programs to help jump-start ZEV sales.
According to Statistics Canada 21,188 new zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) were registered in the country in the first six months of 2020. That represents 3.5% of all new vehicle registrations, a significant jump since 2017 when just 1% of all registrations in Canada were ZEV.
The more interesting numbers are when you dive a little deeper to see where those registrations are coming from. During the first half of 2020, nearly all (94.1%) were in three provinces – Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.
By numbers alone, Quebec had the highest number of ZEV registrations with 10,378, followed by B.C. with 6,515. Despite having the highest population in Canada (nearly 10M more than B.C.), Ontario was third with just 3,054 ZEV registrations.
But when taken as a percentage of vehicles registered in the province, B.C. was in first place with 8.4%, followed by Quebec (6.8%) and Ontario (1.4%).
Both Quebec ($8,000) and B.C. ($3,000) have the highest rebates on top of the federal $5,000 iZEV rebate. Ontario used to have a $14,000 rebate, but that was cancelled by the Ford government in 2018.
| Quebec | B.C. | Ontario | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of ZEV registrations | 10,378 | 6,515 | 3,054 | 21,188 |
| Percentage of ZEV registrations | 6.8% | 8.4% | 1.4% | 3.5% |
Surprisingly the award for the highest rate of ZEV adoption in Canada at 13.4% goes to the Victoria census metropolitan area (Greater Victoria) on Vancouver Island. You might have expected Vancouver to place first in the province, but it was not far behind with 11.0%.
