Honourable Wayne Easter,
committee members, I will give my presentation in both official languages and I will gladly answer questions in English or French.
On behalf of our board of directors, I thank you for this opportunity to share with you our recommendations for the upcoming budget. Our chair could not be here today as she is out of the country.
EMC is the only national not-for-profit association dedicated exclusively to the acceleration of transportation electrification in all modes of transportation. We count on a diversified membership of more than 150 members representing the complete value chain from manufacturers to end-users, and we have good discussions on how to move this industry forward. Together, EMC members bring an integrated point of view and solutions to the emerging industry.
Last May Canada's zero-emissions vehicle strategy was announced for 2018, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. EMC is part of the advisory committee, and many of our members have been active in the five expert groups in the rigorous and large scope of work under way. The advisory committee had the chance to discuss the successful strategies in the short, medium, and long term and the level of ambition associated with those.
While we count on the announcement in 2018 of the strategy, EMC is definitely convinced that the 2018 budget should include measures that are recognized as priorities.
One of the first principal steps is public awareness. As a major barrier to increasing the adoption of electric vehicles, a unanimous consensus exists on the lack of awareness by Canadians, and the necessity to act now.
We have the following recommendations. A national outreach campaign must be funded. A web portal where all the information can be found must be established. Electric vehicle showcases must be developed. Training must be delivered to dealers and sales staff. Mentorship and ambassadors programs must be created, and test drive programs launched.
The second aspect deals with purchase incentives.
In addition to this public awareness campaign, sales incentives have been shown, all around the world, to be a major factor in reducing the cost of owning electric vehicles. Today, three provinces offer measures of that kind: Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
In the United States, a strong federal incentive, combined with further incentives offered in a number of states, has significantly increased the number of electric vehicles sold. These measures combined provide for more than $16,700 (Canadian) in incentives to purchase a vehicle in the United States. In Europe, a number of countries, such as Norway and France, also provide incentives of that kind, but, at the moment, Canada has none that cover all provinces. That is why, as a way of reducing the cost of ownership, we recommend eliminating the goods and services tax from sales of the vehicles. In parallel, we recommend creating a finance company that would offer sales and leases of electric vehicles for an all-inclusive monthly fee.
We have not forgotten fleets. Having governments and institutions setting an example is essential in moving things forward. For corporate fleets, we are recommending a reduction in the taxable benefit cost to employees for using a car. For federal government fleets, we are recommending additional budgets for the purchase of electric vehicles in order to set an example.
In summary, our recommendations for the federal budget are to set aside amounts of $100 million annually for the next two years, including $50 million for the tax reduction and $25 million for awareness. This additional allocation of funds, combined with the ongoing federal investment of $120 million for infrastructure over the next four years, would be the basic budget in preparation for the transition period up to 2020.
With the arrival of more EVs with longer ranges from all car manufacturers, Canada can decide to seize the opportunity to become a more strategic market for electric vehicles right now. We are convinced that it's not too late for Canada, but it's now time to share a vision, one supported by short-term pragmatic actions.
We are convinced that the adoption of EVs is a key mobility measure helping Canadians to be more productive by using clean and very efficient electricity, and by procuring energy savings that will be spent on other goods and services.
As for Canadian businesses, transportation electrification does present a challenge, but also an important opportunity to seize.
The Canadian ZEV strategy will evaluate those options in order to create the conditions to take advantage of growing global markets on clean technology, but definitely one of the unavoidable conditions is to support a strong EV market here in Canada.
I thank you for your attention. I'm available for your comments and questions later.