With Canada officially opening the door to EVs from the East, up to 70 per cent of purchasing intenders say they would consider cars from China

Canadians have become increasingly receptive to purchasing an electric car made in China, according to several polls conducted at the start of this year.

Results from Nanos Research Group, Abacus Data and Leger show that the number of Canadians who say they support Chinese vehicles entering the country, or that “made-in-China” is not a detrimental factor in their decision-making, marks a sharp upward shift over a short period of time.

Regional differences

While Canadians overall expressed greater willingness to buy a Chinese-manufactured EV than they have in the past, national polling results also reveal differences along regional lines.

In research conducted by Abacus Data for Clean Energy Canada, of 2,498 Canadians polled who indicated they intended to purchase an EV, 70 per cent would consider Chinese-built vehicles. Thirty-five per cent of the entire polling group said they would consider purchasing a Chinese EV, 14 per cent said they would not consider a vehicle from China, and 39 per cent said they would not buy an EV at all. 

Provincially, support for Chinese EVs ranged from 45 per cent in Quebec to 24 per cent in Alberta, consistent with province-specific interest in EVs. 

Support for import plan

Research by Leger called “Canadians’ Views on Chinese Electric Vehicles” finds that, among 1,570 Canadians polled, 61 per cent support the importing of Chinese EVs. Québec has the highest support at 72 per cent and Atlantic Canada the lowest at 51 per cent. 

Twenty-three per cent of those surveyed expressed opposition to bringing in EVs from China.

Despite the positive response to allowing Chinese models into the domestic auto market, a majority of respondents (63 per cent) expressed concern about possible retaliation from the U.S. in the form of additional tariffs. 

Large jump in acceptance

With a different approach, the Nanos Research Group, in a study for Bloomberg News called “Resistance to Chinese Electric Vehicles Down,” asked 1,009 Canadians if knowing an EV was built in China would have an effect on purchasing. Fifty-three per cent said no, marking a dramatic increase over responses to the same question in 2024 when 25 per cent of those surveyed reported that the country of origin had no effect on decision making. The number of respondents who would be more likely or somewhat more likely to purchase a Chinese EV rose to 15 per cent from 9 per cent in 2024.

Conversely, the number of Canadians who said they would be less likely or somewhat less likely to buy an EV based on where it was produced decreased during the same time period, from 61 per cent two years ago to 28 per cent this year.

The new deal

In 2024, the federal government under then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese EVs to effectively prevent entry into the Canadian market, mirroring the same tariff imposed by the U.S. China retaliated with counter-tariffs on many of Canada’s agricultural exports.

Last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney lowered the tariff rate to 6.1 per cent on a quota of 49,000 Chinese EVs annually. The import limit will increase to 70,000 EVs by 2030 and includes a provision that 50 per cent of the quota be reserved for EVs priced at $35,000 or less by 2030.

In exchange, China agreed to roll back duties on Canadian agricultural products.

The federal government also announced that it would reinstate consumer incentives of up to $5,000 per vehicle toward the purchase of an EV. It has also committed to tighter, industry-wide emission standards.