An overview of the new federal electric vehicle inventive program.
The Canadian federal electric vehicle incentive program or was approved in the 2019 Government of Canada budget. It was announced in March 2019 and went into effect on May 1, 2019.
The program offers a rebate of up to $5,000 on the purchase of an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid vehicle with a battery capacity of more than 15.0 kWh. The rebate also applies when a vehicle is leased on a 48-month term. Other incentives include a $1,250 rebate on a 12-month lease, $2,500 on a 24-month lease and $3,750 on a 36-month lease. A rebate of up to $2,500 is available on vehicles with a battery capacity that’s inferior to 15 kWh.
To qualify, an electric vehicle must have a base model price of less than $45,000. More expensive versions of the same model can qualify so long as they don’t exceed $55,000.
The program can be combined with Provincial EV incentive programs from the Government of Quebec and the Government of British Columbia. Only new electric vehicles that have never been plated before are eligible. That means pre-owned models don’t qualify.
Buyers won’t have to do anything specific to get the rebate which is applied by the dealership at the point of sale.
