Sales of ZE-MHDVs, however, only made up 1 per cent of overall fleet, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation

Canada posted one of the sharpest increases in electric bus sales in the world last year, part of a global surge that saw electric truck and bus sales nearly double for a second straight year, a new report says.

Battery-electric bus sales in Canada jumped 188 per cent in 2025, according to a study called An Overview of the Global Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Market by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a non-profit research organization. Canada’s growth trailed only Chile, where electric bus sales rose 299 per cent.

We still have a way to go, however. There were 471 zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (ZE-MHDVs) registered in the country last year, accounting for around one per cent of the 47,676 MHDVs registered in 2025, according to the report. 

By segment, buses and coaches led with 392 units (9.7 per cent ZE share), followed by medium-duty trucks at 44 units (0.2 per cent ZE share) and heavy-duty trucks at 35 units (0.1 per cent ZE share). 

In 2024, Canadian ZE-MHDV sales topped out at 274. The all-time high was 685 ZE-MHDVs registered in 2023. 

The report’s Canadian statistics are provided by Mobility Global. 

According to Transport Canada data, market share for ZE-MHDVs in 2025 was 1.7 per cent. The total number of ZE-MHDVs currently registered in Canada is 11,475, for a market share of just 0.4 per cent. 

A broader trend

The Canadian figures were part of a broader trend: electric buses are leading the shift away from fossil fuels in commercial vehicles across many regions of the world, even as electric trucks remain a much smaller share of the market outside China.

Globally, sales of electric trucks and buses reached 520,000 in 2025, up 86 per cent from the year before, the ICCT found. The organization’s study covers 34 countries that account for about 80 per cent of global truck and bus sales.

China accounted for nearly 90 per cent of all electric truck and bus sales worldwide, the report says, with sales of medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks more than quintupling over two years. Close to 30 per cent of heavy trucks sold in China last year were fully electric, driven by falling battery costs and government support, according to the study.

Trucks sales limited

Outside China, electric truck adoption remained limited, with about 41,000 units sold across the other 33 countries tracked. Excluding China and the United States, electric buses made up 56 per cent of zero-emission truck and bus sales, with the European Union and India leading in volume.

The United States saw more modest growth of about two per cent, the ICCT found, even as the federal government rolled back emissions regulations for heavy vehicles. American electric bus and truck sales reached about 24,500 units in 2025, mostly medium-duty delivery vehicles.