I tucked my hands into my pockets against the February chill as Lars Schmidt guided me through his dealership lot in North Vancouver. Between rows of gleaming vehicles, he pointed to several empty parking spaces where compact European electric models should have been.
“We had five customers ready to buy the Volkswagen ID.3 last month,” said Schmidt, who manages Capilano Volkswagen. “But I couldn’t sell them cars that don’t exist in Canada. They all went home with gas vehicles instead.”
This scenario is playing out across dealerships nationwide as a coalition of electric vehicle advocates and industry representatives pushes the federal government to harmonize Canadian vehicle regulations with European standards. The regulatory alignment would open Canadian roads to dozens of affordable and compact electric vehicle models currently unavailable to consumers here.
The Electric Mobility Canada coalition, which represents more than 220 organizations from charging networks to manufacturers, delivered a position paper to Transport Canada officials last week. The document outlines how regulatory differences – sometimes as minor as headlight specifications or dashboard indicator colors – are preventing European EV models from entering the Canadian market.
“These aren’t safety compromises we’re asking for,” explained Daniel Breton, president and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada, during our interview at his Montreal office. “The EU’s safety standards are as rigorous as ours, just different in their technical requirements. It means Canadians have access to about 40 electric vehicle models while Europeans can choose from over 120.”
Transport Canada currently recognizes U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, allowing vehicles certified in America to be sold in Canada. However, vehicles meeting only European standards must undergo costly modifications and recertification processes that most manufacturers find prohibitive for our smaller market.
Walking through the historic streets of Old Montreal after my meeting with Breton, I passed three gas stations with prices hovering near $1.90 per litre. The high cost of fuel has helped drive interest in electric vehicles, but affordability remains a significant barrier. Data from Statistics Canada shows the average new EV sold in Canada costs approximately $58,000 – well beyond what many families can afford.
Judith Blake, a Vancouver nurse and mother of two who I met at a community climate action meeting, typifies the consumer caught in this regulatory gap. “I’ve been saving for three years to replace our 2008 Honda,” she told me. “I want an electric car that fits in our narrow garage and works for school drop-offs, but everything available is either too expensive or too large.”
The compact European models that advocates want to bring to Canada typically sell for €25,000 to €35,000 (approximately CAD $35,000 to $49,000) in their home markets. Models like the Renault Zoe, Citroën ë-C3, and Fiat 500e offer ranges between 250-350 kilometers – sufficient for most daily urban driving needs while requiring significantly fewer raw materials to manufacture than their larger counterparts.
Environmental economists point to another advantage: these smaller vehicles align better with Canada’s climate goals. A 2023 study by the International Council on Clean Transportation found that compact EVs have approximately 65% lower lifetime carbon emissions than equivalent gas vehicles, compared to 55% for larger SUV-style electric vehicles.
When I visited Environment and Climate Change Canada’s offices in Gatineau last month for an unrelated story, senior policy advisor Marie Renaud acknowledged the regulatory challenges. “We’re aware of the situation and reviewing options that maintain our safety standards while supporting climate targets,” she said. “There’s definite interest in expanding the range of zero-emission vehicles available to Canadians.”
Not everyone supports regulatory harmonization with Europe. The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association has expressed concern about potential impacts on Canadian parts suppliers who currently design for North American standards. “There are legitimate economic considerations at play,” noted Association President Flavio Volpe when I spoke with him by phone. “We need to ensure any regulatory changes don’t unintentionally harm Canadian manufacturing jobs.”
Transport Canada spokesperson Genevieve Sicard declined to provide specific timelines for regulatory decisions when I requested comment, stating only that “the department is reviewing the proposals and consulting with stakeholders on potential pathways forward.”
For urban planners like Mohammed Hassan, who leads Vancouver’s sustainable transportation division, the regulatory barriers represent missed opportunities for addressing multiple urban challenges. “Smaller EVs require less parking space, create less congestion, and use our limited road infrastructure more efficiently,” he explained as we toured a neighborhood mobility hub where car-sharing services operate. “They’re the perfect transition vehicle for denser urban areas.”
Indigenous communities are also watching the regulatory discussion with interest. In Bella Bella on British Columbia’s central coast, the Heiltsuk Nation launched a small electric vehicle sharing program last year using certified North American models. But as program coordinator Sarah Mason told me during my visit to the community last fall, “The available vehicles are bigger than what we need and more expensive than what makes sense for our narrow island roads and short distances.”
Back at the Vancouver dealership, Lars Schmidt’s frustration is evident as another potential EV customer walks away. “We have the technology, we have the demand, we have the climate imperative,” he said. “What we don’t have is the regulatory flexibility to bring the right vehicles to the people who want them.”
As Canada faces the challenging road to its 2035 target of 100% zero-emission vehicle sales, the question of European regulatory alignment highlights the complex interplay between technical standards, consumer choice, and climate action. For advocates like Daniel Breton, the path forward is clear: “Sometimes the biggest barriers to climate solutions aren’t technological or economic – they’re regulatory. This is one of those cases where a pen stroke could do more for emissions reduction than a billion dollars in subsidies.”
