Quebec premier dismisses Doug Ford’s concerns over province’s EV targets

An electric vehicle is charged in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

MONTREAL — Quebec Premier François Legault has dismissed concerns by the Ontario premier over electric vehicle mandates in Canada, saying Quebec already adjusted its targets to reflect the new reality of the North American auto market.

Legault's office responded on Friday to letters sent by Ontario Premier Doug Ford earlier this week to Legault and British Columbia Premier David Eby asking them to drop their electric vehicle sales targets. The mandates, Ford said, are hurting the country’s auto sector and pushing jobs and investments into the United States.

But while Quebec understands Ontario's worries, the province has "already adjusted to the new North American context," Legault spokesman Ewan Sauves said in a text message to The Canadian Press, referring to the Trump administration's deregulation policies and tariffs on Canada's auto sector.

Quebec lifted its ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars that would have taken effect in 2035. Instead, the government’s target is for 90 per cent of new vehicle sales in 2035 to be hybrid or electric, down from 100 per cent fully electric.

"Quebec is making choices that reflect its own economic, environmental, and energy reality," Sauves said.

Ford's letters come as Ontario's auto sector struggles under U.S. tariffs imposed to force vehicle manufacturers to move their production to the United States. Electric vehicle mandates are only compounding the hardship of Ontario's car sector — a major economic driver for Canada that employs nearly 100,000 people, he said.

“Unfortunately, existing EV sales mandates in Canada are making our auto sector less competitive and threatening the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Canadian workers, particularly since the U.S. has rolled back its federal EV policies,” Ford said in his letters.

Soon after taking office in 2025, Trump issued an executive order revoking a non-binding goal set by Biden that EVs make up half of new cars sold by 2030. The order also seeks to terminate a federal exemption that allows California to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035.

In the fall, Quebec and B.C. scaled back or dropped their previous goals of having all new vehicle sales be zero emissions in 2035, but Ford believes they should go further, saying in his letter the provinces' EV rules create a “fragmented” market.

At a news conference Wednesday, the Ontario premier said he is asking them to get rid of all “environmental requests” on cars. “If we keep doing this … greenhouse gases and everything and the other guy south of the border … gets rid of everything, how do you compete?" Ford said in Kenilworth, Ont.

The federal government also eliminated its EV sales mandate earlier this year in favour of stricter emissions standards for the auto sector.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press