I think it's fair to say, and the facts are pretty clear on this, that transportation is the second-highest emitting sector in Canada, so it is clear that we are not going to achieve our climate goals unless we do address emissions from the transportation sector. Light-duty vehicles are a major contributor to those overall sector emissions.
Net zero by 2050 is, obviously, the end goal here. While we also have interim targets along the way, we appreciate that there needs to be some flexibility and consideration given to the economic health of our manufacturing and import vehicle sector. We are trying to take that into consideration as we develop regulations.
You mentioned air pollution. I addressed that before. There are major gains with respect to air pollution associated with these regulations; that's on top of existing air pollution controls for vehicles. Increased EV deployment in Canada will help to further decrease harmful air pollution for Canadians.
We will be seeing benefits and not just social and health benefits. We also see very important benefits for consumers. We know that an EV, for example, is about 40% to 50% less costly in terms of maintenance and operations than an ICE vehicle is. While upfront costs may be higher, over the life cycle or the lifespan of a vehicle, total ownership costs will be lower for consumers, so there is an economic gain, as well, for consumers.
Then, of course, we see really strong growth in the EV market globally. If Canada is going to be a major player in the global auto sector, it will need to be part of that global transition. We have a lot of confidence in our ability to innovate and to make the cars that the world wants, and we think this policy is also complementary to those innovation and competitiveness objectives.