Thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance.
My name is Daniel Breton. I am the president and CEO of EMC.
Founded in 2006, EMC is a nationally based industry organization dedicated exclusively to the advancement of electric mobility and an opportunity to support the Canadian economy while fighting climate change and air pollution. EMC is the unifying and authoritative voice for electric transportation in the country.
Electric Mobility Canada has a wide range of member organizations including light, medium, heavy-duty, and off-road vehicle manufacturers, ship builders, infrastructure providers, electricity suppliers, tech companies, research centres, governmental departments, universities, mining companies, fleet managers, unions, and so on.
Let me personally invite all of you to our conference right here in Edmonton at the EXPO Centre. Right now, we're having our trade show here, where you'll see electric cars, trucks and buses.
Here are EMC's top recommendations for the 2024 budget.
For light-duty vehicles, continue purchase incentives for new passenger EVs, but focus on the EV-only range to include more long-range electric cars, SUVs and pickup trucks. Introduce a fiscally neutral feebate system to have the most polluting vehicles fund EV incentives for new vehicles. Make EVs more accessible for low- and modest-income households through a dedicated program.
Make it easier for taxis, car share or ride-share to go electric by removing the iZEV cap for fleets. Actually, there was good news yesterday from Transport Canada on that front: going from 10 to 50 electric cars that could get a purchase rebate for car sharing.
Support consumer EV education and industry sales force training—this is a big need. Establish a green scrappage program that gets fossil fuel vehicles off the road, and replace them with zero-emission modes of transportation, whether battery electric or hydrogen. Adopt an ambitious ZEV sales transportation regulation program to make sure that all Canadians have access to a growing supply and variety of EV models.
For MHDV, pursue purchasing incentives for the segment and work with the provinces to match funding. Pursue funding for electric transit buses and pursue long-term funding for municipalities and transit agencies to convert their fleet to electric. Make the electric school bus incentive program simpler and more efficient so companies can apply and get the funding they need for transition. Increase funding for the integration of electric trucks into commercial fleets. Implement a phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles at federally regulated properties such as ports, rail yards, parks and airports.
Make electric off-road vehicles more affordable—many companies in Canada make electric off-road vehicles, one of them being snowmobiles, obviously—by introducing a federal rebate, as Yukon, Vermont and other jurisdictions did. Implement a ZEV sales mandate for off-road by 2035, similar to New Jersey, New York and California.
Support the electrification of Canada's ferry services. No one talks about this, but it's important. In Norway, I saw that 50% of the whole ferry fleet was already electric. We recommend that the federal government work with regional and provincial ferry agencies, as well as Crown corporations like BC Ferries, to launch a program to support the electrification of ferry services across Canada to lower GHG emissions, air and water pollution, and underwater noise and, in the process, create a Canadian zero-emission marine industry to become a North American leader.
On EV charging infrastructure, set and fund targets for EV charging stations or fuelling stations for hydrogen for all types of vehicles in every Canadian region. Make one million condominiums and apartments EV-ready over four years. Add EV charging requirements to national building codes. Support right-to-charge rules for residents of multi-unit residences. Accelerate rural, remote and off-road access to charging, as we saw in last week's report from the Auditor General.
As you can see, the transition to electric transportation will call for sustained support from the federal government, not only to ensure that it succeeds, but also because the Canadian and foreign companies involved need the market to be predictable in order to invest in the medium and long terms.
Collaboration among the provinces and territories, the first nations, municipalities, and the federal government is essential if Canada wants to be a global leader in the electrification of transportation.
We have to ensure that future generations will have access to sustainable, well-paid jobs everywhere in Canada, from mining to assembly, from research to education, from sales to maintenance, and from British Columbia to the Maritime provinces, including, obviously, Alberta.