Science and Research Committee on April 23rd, 2026

[Dr. Moataz Mohamed]

Thank you.

Quebec is a pioneer and a very useful case study to dig deep into in order to understand and learn about the EV landscape.

As I noted in my opening remarks, we also have attitudinal and psychological factors that impact EV adoption. One that's very strong is the social norm. Educational and awareness campaigns to educate end-users on the benefits of electric vehicles, including the environmental benefits as well as the life-cycle cost benefits, are significantly important.

There's also the infrastructure intensity. What we have observed from our data is that a lot of people are not aware of the infrastructure. They don't see the charging stations because they don't use them, and their perception is that there are not enough charging stations. There is also peer pressure. When you see a lot of EVs on the road, this is an open invitation for other users to attend.

Aside from the cost, it's infrastructure in terms of charging infrastructure, especially in a multi-unit residential building. The second one is education and awareness. Both of them will motivate the market, as will stability in the incentive program.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

You're talking about infrastructure and social norms. As you know, the federal government used public funds to purchase an oil pipeline that cost $34 billion. You understand that the oil being transported isn't even intended for local consumption, but rather for export. I'm trying to understand your perspective, based on your expertise.

We have the money to buy infrastructure for one type of energy—oil—but we still don't have the money to invest in infrastructure for new technologies that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

How do you perceive this somewhat contradictory message?

[Dr. Moataz Mohamed]

Given my limited expertise in the oil and gas industry, I can comment on the electrical vehicle infrastructure.

One of the untapped markets when it comes to EV consumers is the multi-unit residential buildings, because they don't have points of access for slow charging overnight. Also, the condominium agreements in many situations and cases are not updated to reflect a high percentage of electric vehicle buyers. If we are looking into electrical vehicle infrastructure, I would say that there is still a gap. It's the so-called chicken-and-egg situation. You provide the infrastructure and the visibility, and you hope that this will trigger users to utilize the infrastructure. It's the same as most of the fundamental services that we interact with on a daily basis.

If I were to comment on the EV infrastructure, I would echo the statement that there is a need to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure, especially when it comes to low-income neighbourhoods, as well as multi-unit residential buildings, just to make sure that there is a lens of equity and inclusion when it comes to the EV landscape.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you. The time is up for MP Blanchette-Joncas.

Now, before we end this panel, we will have three and a half minutes for Mr. Holman, three and a half minutes for MP Hirtle and then one minute and a half for MP Blanchette-Joncas.

We will begin with MP Holman for three and a half minutes.

Go ahead, MP Blanchette-Joncas?

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Madam Chair, would it not be possible to extend the meeting rather than cutting off the speaking time of members addressing the witnesses?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have the committee for two hours. We will have to end it at one o'clock.

We need to discuss our scheduling. I mentioned at the beginning that we will have to do the scheduling part today, because we need some instructions in order to schedule further meetings.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Do we have the necessary resources to extend the meeting?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I don't know what the availability is of members or our resources. We will have to get that checked. As I indicated in the beginning, we will schedule some time. Now we are eating into their time. We need 10 minutes for scheduling purposes.

I'll go to MP Holman for three and a half minutes.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses who are here attending the science and research committee today.

Dr. Ahmed, you've worked across both industry and research in electric and autonomous vehicles. From your perspective, how important is it for Canada to maintain domestic engineering, manufacturing and supply chain capacity in the EV sector?

[Dr. Ryan Ahmed]

I believe it is absolutely critical at the moment. From watching and seeing the industry and on the research side, we know that we have world-class talent when it comes to battery pack integration and knowledge in battery management systems. To stay competitive, as I mentioned earlier, our issue occurs when it comes to the entire vehicle integration, integrating the battery pack with electric motors and inverters and optimizing the system as a whole.

I see that when it comes to talent. We have incredible talent. For example, last year the McMaster team won for the second time the battery workforce challenge, which is a North American competition. There were 12 North American teams from the U.S. and Canada. We have exceptional teams here. The issue occurs when it comes to integrated execution.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

If a country relies more heavily on imported EVs rather than on domestic production, what are the risks in terms of loss of technical expertise, innovation capacity and long-term competitiveness?

[Dr. Ryan Ahmed]

My recommendation was to not open the entire market, specifically, for Chinese vehicles, as an example, but to have a conditional quota there. It's similar to what, for example, China did with Tesla. Back in 2019, they allowed Tesla to open a Gigafactory in China. They gave them cheap credit and cheap loans. They allowed them to invest there but on the condition that a Chinese supplier needed to be involved.

I see this as an opportunity for Canada as well in a similar fashion. It's not to just open to markets specifically and allow vehicles to be sold here, because that would have a significant impact on our workers, and we're not going to gain much out of it. The point is that if we open that, there needs to be a condition on the engineering content and IP specifically for Canadians to have Canadian suppliers involved. That's simply my recommendation to the committee.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

We've heard proposals around importing partially assembled vehicles or knock-down kits. From an engineering and manufacturing standpoint, do these approaches build meaningful domestic capability, or do they risk limiting Canada's role to final stage assembly?

[Dr. Ryan Ahmed]

If you're importing just vehicles or doing just bare minimum assembly, there won't a lot of IP or knowledge gained specifically for Canadians. That's why, again, my recommendation was to have Canadian suppliers involved as a condition for critical minerals and for suppliers that are involved in the assembly of those vehicles. Any company that doesn't meet that minimum requirement would basically be excluded from that quota. That's my recommendation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Dr. Ahmed.

Now, we will proceed to MP Hirtle for three and a half minutes.

Please go ahead, and welcome to the committee.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm happy to be here.

Dr. Ahmed, I'm wondering if you finished your comments in response to MP Deschênes-Thériault's question earlier. Do you need another moment to finish that response?

[Dr. Ryan Ahmed]

I'm good. Those were all my thoughts.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Okay.

We know that the number of new EVs sold around the world has only been increasing over the last few years. Nearly 24% of new cars sold in 2024 worldwide were EVs.

How does this increase in EVs worldwide improve opportunities for the Canadian auto sector?

[Dr. Ryan Ahmed]

I see the future as electric autonomous. We see that electric vehicles, from a cost standpoint and from an efficiency standpoint, are superior to internal combustion engine vehicles. Of course, right now there is a bit of a softening demand, specifically because of, first of all, customer acceptance. It takes a long time for customers to accept changing from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric and autonomous vehicles.

Of course, the $12,000 incentive being removed and then reinstated has an impact as well. It's also the price point, which is what Dr. Mohamed mentioned earlier on. Electric vehicles at a 30% premium compared to conventional vehicles is a roadblock for many. I would say that having the incentives and having access to affordable electric vehicles as well will expand the market quite significantly.

Of course, to answer your question specifically, we see electric vehicles as incredible opportunities for Canada and Canadians.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

Dr. Mohamed, the International Energy Agency has predicted that the share of electric cars in overall car sales is set to exceed 40% in 2030.

Is it fair to say that this is not experimentation, but that this is where the market and the money are going?

[Dr. Moataz Mohamed]

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that there will be some significant deviation within different countries. This is more of a global prediction. When you consider country-by-country specifics, you will have some leading countries like China and Scandinavian countries. Then you will have Europe, and go into the U.S. and Canada.

As Dr. Ahmed mentioned, the future is electric and autonomous, and the future is affordability as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Dr. Mohamed.

With that, the time comes to an end for MP Hirtle.

We will end this panel with MP Blanchette-Joncas for one and a half minutes, please.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Madam Chair, before we begin, can you tell us if the resources are available?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We don't have an answer as of yet.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Okay.

Madam Chair, in the future, would it be possible to check whether we can extend the committee meeting before informing us?