Thank you, Mr. Reuss.
I wish to thank the committee for their invitation.
My name is Charles Bernard, and I am the chief economist of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, CADA.
I think the situation is quite clear. Dealers remain actively committed to providing services and products that enable consumers to purchase and maintain electric vehicles.
The challenge with a vehicle supply that is subject to a standard and which is growing rapidly is that by definition, it is not pegged to the level of demand for electric vehicles. Dealers are currently operating in an environment where demand is not aligned with the pace imposed by mandatory targets.
The numbers are interesting. For example, a look at the most recent data for the second quarter of 2025 shows a positive trend in terms of the uptake of electric vehicles. These figures are 4% in Halifax, 17% in Vancouver and 5% in Winnipeg. The figures for Joliette soar to 16%. I didn’t have the numbers for Repentigny, and so I used the number for a nearby community.
Although this is a positive trend facilitated by dealers, it falls short of the federal mandate. The disparity between the mandated targets and the actual market trajectory is likely to have a negative impact that outweighs the intended benefits of the regulation.
All this comes at the worst time, when prices are going up and accessibility is declining due to tariffs.
In our opinion, the time has come to review the viability of the standard, identify a new approach suited to the current environment based on data and facts from consumers and dealerships, rather than getting bogged down in political positions.
Thank you.