Evidence of meeting #13 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vehicles.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Ellis Ross Conservative Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the lack of environmental standards and the lack of employment standards in a place like China as opposed to Canada.
Director of Policy and Strategy, Clean Energy Canada
Have we looked at that? Yes. There are ways we could structure deals that impose labour standards or environmental standards. Again, the EU has done this. They're introducing a labour regulation that would apply to any Chinese-made EVs coming in. They have battery regulations that set thresholds of what carbon footprints must be for the batteries to go into the vehicles that sell and how responsibly produced the critical minerals are.
Conservative
Ellis Ross Conservative Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Staying on the critical minerals topic, first nations leaders don't have the luxury of just focusing in on air impacts. We have to look at air, land and water. Has your organization looked into the impacts of the sourcing of the critical minerals, not only in Canada but across the world?
Director of Policy and Strategy, Clean Energy Canada
We haven't done an extensive analysis of the impacts there, but the global analysis that I've seen is that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly—
November 6th, 2025 / 11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Ellis Ross Conservative Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
No, no, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the impact on land specifically, especially in a place like the Congo, where child labour is being used. Has your institute considered that in factoring in whether or not Canada should be sourcing critical minerals or EVs from these types of countries?
Director of Policy and Strategy, Clean Energy Canada
Absolutely. We support Canada producing critical minerals here to put into the electric vehicles that are being made in Canada and North America and the world, which are more responsibly produced. But carmakers are also innovating away from some of those critical minerals that are dominated by certain parts of the world, such as the DRC, that have lower standards and are instead focusing on—
Conservative
Ellis Ross Conservative Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you.
Mr. Green, we heard some shocking numbers the other today that if tariffs continue with the United States, the projected job loss could be 60,000. Then we heard another number that if we continue down this EV mandate and we force out the existing manufacturers, 137,000 jobs could be lost. If you times that by an average of, say, 50,000—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Angelo Iacono
Thank you, Mr. Ross. I'm sorry to interrupt.
Mr. Fanjoy, the floor is yours for five minutes.
Liberal
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Breton, I'd like to give you an opportunity. You started an answer on the health impacts. I'd like to give you a moment to finish that.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Electric Mobility Canada
The issue is very important because we have to keep in mind that gas and diesel cars are having an impact on the health of Canadians. According to Health Canada, we're talking about, if I'm not mistaken, 1,200 premature deaths, plus almost $10 billion in impact from health costs. This is something that people don't mention but that I think is very important.
With regard to Mr. Ross's comment on the critical minerals and Congo and all that, I would like to reiterate the fact that this takes cobalt. This takes cobalt, and gas cars need cobalt as well. If we want to look at everything related to environment but also at human conditions where people are working, I think that we should look at the whole picture—not just at electric cars but at gas cars and at every product that we buy.
Liberal
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Thank you.
What would be the consequences of our losing the electric vehicle availability standard or significantly backtracking on it? What would the impact be on Canadian consumers?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Electric Mobility Canada
There would be an impact not only on consumers but on jobs as well. Let me give you an example. A lot of people don't know this, but some car manufacturers are employing workers here to build electric cars and electric trucks. Paccar Peterbilt makes electric trucks in Canada. Tesla has manufacturing capacity in Canada that people don't know about. We have suppliers in Canada. A company like Rivian employs hundreds of people working on software in B.C. We have electricians, construction workers, and utility workers and have research and development being done in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec and at Dalhousie University, obviously, because we have been at the forefront of research and development in Canada.
You might not know about this, but the very first research done on lithium iron phosphate batteries was done in Quebec. The very first research—some of the best standards for NMC batteries—was done at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. We have some of the best researchers in the world on EV batteries.
Liberal
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Thank you for mentioning one of my alma maters.
Ms. Kyriazis, we often hear from Conservative members about how electricity doesn't work in their province or in rural Canada. I represent a rural riding myself. I drive an electric vehicle. I came in today at a fraction of the cost of a gas vehicle.
Why is it that electric vehicles improve affordability, improve health care outcomes and have many other benefits in some jurisdictions but just don't work in other jurisdictions?
Director of Policy and Strategy, Clean Energy Canada
In many ways, rural Canadians would benefit the most from electric vehicles because they have longer commutes. With EVs, the more you drive, the more you save compared to a gas car. In rural communities, it's also the case that most people live in single-family homes where they have access to home charging, often without needing to make any sort of upgrade. They could use a regular level 1 outlet if they wanted, and they could plug in at home and wake up to a fully charged car. The average range of new electric vehicles being sold today is 480 kilometres on a single charge. That is more than enough to meet most Canadians' needs.
Liberal
President and Chief Executive Officer, Electric Mobility Canada
It's on both languages.
Liberal
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
—both languages. Thank you very much.
Could you give it to this committee to incorporate in this study?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Electric Mobility Canada
I'll send you a copy in PDF.
Liberal
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Thank you very much.
What would be the greatest myths that we need to debunk when it comes to electric vehicles and their benefits?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Electric Mobility Canada
One that we haven't mentioned yet is this: We live in a large country, so we cannot drive an electric car. I don't know anybody who wakes up in the morning in Halifax and goes to work in Vancouver. The average commute is 50 kilometres. For any electric car, there is no issue at all.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Angelo Iacono
I would like to thank the witnesses for their testimony today. It was very enriching. I wish you all the best. You are excused.
The meeting will be suspended while we prepare the witnesses for the next panel.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Angelo Iacono
We now welcome our second panel of witnesses.
From the Canadian ZEV Supply Chain Alliance, we have Matthew Fortier, president and chief executive officer. From the Energy Futures Institute, we have Barry Penner, president.
Witnesses, you each have five minutes for your opening remarks. When you see this yellow card go up, it means you have one minute left to respond to the question. When you see the other side, that means it's time to end your sentence, please, or else, I'll unfortunately have to cut you off.
Thank you.
We will start with Mr. Matthew Fortier.
Mr. Fortier, you have five minutes.
Matthew Fortier President and Chief Executive Officer, Accelerate: Canada's ZEV Supply Chain Alliance
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Matthew Fortier. I’m the president of Accelerate ZEV. We are a national organization that works with companies and stakeholders in the electric vehicle supply chain to position Canada as an indispensable contributor to the North American EV industry by embedding our resources and technologies in key stages of the value chain.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about the electric vehicle availability standard.
The global automotive industry is undergoing its most profound transformation in a century, and Canada faces a choice. Will we be passive observers, importing electric vehicles and all of their components from overseas, or will we seize this moment to build a thriving domestic supply chain that represents the foundation of our future auto sector and that creates Canadian jobs and strengthens our economy?
Prime Minister Carney recently paused the EVAS as it became clear that automakers would struggle to meet their 2026 targets. I'm not here today to defend rigid timelines but to propose something better: an EVAS that drives EV adoption and that drives investment in Canadian jobs and Canadian manufacturing.
Right now, the EVAS—Canada's primary electric vehicle policy—has a fundamental weakness. It contains no Canadian content requirements. Under current rules, automakers could satisfy their entire EVAS obligation by importing every single vehicle from overseas. This might achieve our emissions targets, but it would create zero Canadian jobs in the process. That's a missed opportunity for Canadian workers and communities. It's also an opportunity we can’t afford to miss, as we face hostile trade measures from the United States, which threaten our integrated automotive manufacturing sector.
In this environment, an EV policy that is focused solely on emissions reductions—regardless of where vehicles are built—is not good enough. We need a policy that serves both our environmental goals and our economic security.
The way to do this is straightforward and builds on mechanisms already in the EVAS. Currently, automakers can earn credits by investing $20,000 in charging infrastructure. We propose expanding these credits to cover the entire EV supply chain.
Under our proposal, automakers could generate compliance credits by investing in these things: critical mineral mining operations in Canada, battery materials processing facilities, battery cell and pack manufacturing, research and development partnerships with Canadian universities and colleges, and EV component manufacturing.
We propose that these credits be capped at 10% of the company's annual obligation. This means that automakers would still have to bring many more EVs to market in Canada, but they would also have strong incentives to build their supply chains for EV manufacturing right here in Canada.
Consider Volkswagen's $7-billion battery factory in St. Thomas, Ontario. Under our proposal, this massive investment in Canadian manufacturing and Canadian jobs could generate substantial compliance credits, recognizing a company that has committed to Canada while ensuring thousands of Canadians benefit from good-paying jobs in the EV transition.
Everyone wins. Automakers get flexible compliance options. Canada strengthens its industrial base. Consumers get more affordable vehicles to choose from. The good news is that there would likely be strong support for this kind of action. Recent polling by our organization, which was conducted by Environics Research, shows overwhelming support for building EV industries here at home. Over 70% of Canadians want to see more critical mineral mining, battery production and EV manufacturing happen right here in Canada. They understand that this means jobs and economic growth.
The same polling reveals a problem. Most Canadians don't see a clear national EV plan, and two-thirds believe we're falling behind other countries. At a time when we’re seeing Stellantis move production to the U.S. and GM cancel its electric van production in Ingersoll, they're right to be concerned.
Reforming the EVAS to incentivize investment in the future of automotive would send a strong message to Canadians that the government is using all of the tools in its tool box to fight for jobs and to build a climate-competitive economy. Time is not on our side, though.
Committee members know well that Chinese manufacturers, heavily subsidized by their government, can sell EVs for thousands of dollars less than traditional manufacturers can manage. The only way North America can compete is by building integrated, cost-competitive supply chains here in North America. Canada must be the cornerstone of that strategy.
We have three options.
Option one is to scrap the EVAS entirely, defining Canada's primary EV policy as a failure, restricting consumer choice and guaranteeing that we fall further behind in the global transition.
Option two is to maintain the status quo. This would drive EV adoption, but we'd have to accept that the vehicles we drive would likely have little Canadian content and would create almost no Canadian jobs.
Option three is to reform the EVAS to create the best of both worlds. It would be an EV policy that drives higher adoption rates, that incentivizes investment in Canada and that creates thousands of jobs across multiple sectors and regions.
We strongly recommend option three.
Thank you, and I welcome your questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Angelo Iacono
Thank you, Monsieur Fortier.
Mr. Penner, the floor is yours.
The floor is yours for five minutes.
Thank you.