Canadians are reacting to the federal government’s decision to freeze Tesla’s EV incentive rebate claims and block the company from joining future programs.
In a statement on Tuesday, Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland said that the eligibility criteria for future zero-emission vehicle programs will be changed to ensure that Tesla can’t participate in light of “illegitimate and illegal” U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian goods.
The Incentives for the Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program offered financial rebates to registered dealerships that offered their customers incentives to purchase electric vehicles. The program, which was set to end by Mar. 31, has already been paused as “funds have been fully committed.”
Freeland also said that Tesla won’t be receiving any payments for the current rebate program until a government investigation determines that their claims are valid.
Last week, the Toronto Star reported that Tesla filed $43.1 million rebate claims for 8,653 electric vehicle sales in the last three days of the iZEV program, which would be the equivalent of selling two cars every minute for 24 hours a day during that period.
Since then, Transport Canada has reworded the iZEV eligibility requirements on its website to allow for some flexibility in the rule that required dealerships to file claims before the delivery of vehicles, implying that they could now also file for previous sales, according to the Star.
Tesla has received some backlash since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, launching a trade war. Elon Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla, also works as a U.S. presidential adviser.
Freeland’s announcement comes a week after Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also announced that the city has removed Tesla from its EV financial incentive program that offered a reduction in licensing and renewal fees to EV drivers in light of the trade war.
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Online, Canadians have divided opinions on the announcement.
Some seem to support the removal of Tesla from support programs, especially due to the issues around the validity of the company’s claims.
“Good. Tesla was gaming Canada’s EV rebate program, ‘selling’ 8,000 vehicles on the last day of eligibility,” a user said in X.
“Tesla does not have the right to defraud the Canadian EV rebate program. If the US applies tariffs to Canadian products, then Canada can certainly retaliate. The fact that Canada is more strategic in how the tariffs are applied is something with which the US will have to deal,” another user added.
“Zap! You’re frozen,” a different user wrote.
Meanwhile, other users seem to think that the measure might hurt Canadians who wish to pursue electric vehicles and impact sustainability efforts.
“What about the climate crisis? How are Canadians gonna afford ev by 2035? Isn’t Tesla the most sold EV company in Canada,” an X user said.
“Canada targets ONE company from getting EV rebates? GM, Ford, and all the others are ok.
Seems very selective and petty,” another user chimed in.
