The federal government has bought itself a few more weeks before having to announce the future of EV rebates, as Budget 2025 shifts focus to clean energy and critical minerals investments

Budget releases are always high-stakes times, but after months of being buffeted by economic and trade headwinds, Canada’s beleaguered EV sector was especially eager for good news.

For most of the industry, the suspense will continue — at least for a few more weeks.

Budget 2025, released this week, is conspicuously quiet about the electric vehicle sector that once dominated much of the funding announcements.

There is no news about the return of federal EV rebates, financial support for charging infrastructure or attracting more manufacturing investments.

Instead, Budget 2025 offers a lot of rhetoric — and some tangible plans — about clean energy, grid policies and critical mineral investments.

“This budget is one more step toward a cleaner transportation future,” says Daniel Breton, president and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada, in a press release.

“Now, we need more clarity on implementation to ensure all Canadians benefit from electric mobility policies.”

Future of rebates

Ever since Prime Minister Mark Carney hinted months ago that his Liberal government was considering bringing back financial support for Canadians looking to buy EVs and chargers, the industry and public have been on tenterhooks.

But there is no mention of rebates under either the iZEV (passenger EVs) or ZEVIP (EV charging infrastructure) programs.

Meanwhile, Budget 2025 is clear that rebates for commercial medium- and heavy-duty EVs will conclude at the end of 2025-2026.

“[Transport Canada] will phase out, or reduce, selected programs that overlap with initiatives that are better delivered by other departments, or which have successfully fulfilled their objectives,” reads the Budget.

“TC will also further refine its program portfolio to better align with its core mandate and with evolving industry needs.”

Finally, one of the other policy pillars still hanging in the balance is the federal Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, which had its interim 2026 target removed and the entire policy put under a 60-day review.

“Following this review, the government will announce next steps on electric vehicles in the coming weeks,” says the Budget.

Critical minerals and large-scale infrastructure

Two EV-adjacent programs have managed to stand out in Budget 2025: the Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund and Accelerated Investment Incentive.

The Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund “will make strategic investments in critical minerals projects and companies, including equity investments, loan guarantees, and offtake agreements.”

The fund will receive $50 million over five years, beginning in 2026-2027, distributed by Natural Resources Canada.

The Accelerated Investment Incentive will go towards supporting manufacturing projects and will provide first-year write-offs for “most capital assets,” including: machinery and equipment, clean energy generation, energy conservation equipment, zero-emission vehicles, patents, data network infrastructure, computers, scientific research and experimental development.

“Under this measure, companies can recover their investment cost faster through the tax system. This makes it more attractive to invest in machinery, equipment, technology, and other productivity-enhancing assets and improves Canada’s competitiveness for attracting investment.”

Budget 2025 theme

Zero-emission vehicles not being a star of the federal budget is a departure from the last six years. Still, it is a key indicator that the turbulence caused by the Trump administration has, almost singlehandedly, disrupted what was previously considered “the defining economic opportunity of this generation.”

At least for now.

Budget 2025 isn’t slamming the door on the progress of EV adoption, though it isn’t giving it full-throated support either.

The new attitude towards EV adoption in Canada appears to be following a theme that permeates Budget 2025: humble building blocks, carefully placed and slowly built upon if the numbers make sense in the moment.

And that, for EVs, remains to be seen.