Toronto, Ontario — This weekly Tuesday Ticker features the federal government’s decision to end EV incentives, plus Honda’s strategy to “proceed cautiously” with any Canadian EV battery plant plans.
Funds fully committed
On Jan. 13, The Federal Government of Canada abruptly paused the electric vehicle incentive program offering Canadians rebates up to $5,000 when purchasing or leasing EVs.
A Transport Canada website update says the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) Program has been paused as “funds have been fully committed.”
About 546,000 electric vehicle units have been sold/leased with incentives via the program since its 2019 launch, according to Transport Canada.
The program was previously scheduled to pause on March 31, 2025.
Honda proceeds cautiously
Honda will be cautious about its EV battery plant plans in Canada, according to statements from Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara.
At last week’s CES tech conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kaihara said that “because of [U.S. President] Trump’s initiatives, we must be very careful how we would start production.”
“Maybe we might have to delay our start of the production of EV models,” added Kaihara.
At the same time, earlier at CES, Honda unveiled its ‘Honda 0’ line of electric vehicles, which are set to hit the North American marketplace in 2026.
As of Monday at 1 p.m. ET, shares of Honda traded at 1,482 (CAD$13.63) per share, up 1.6 percent from the same date last year.
