Chinese EVs to benefit Canada's green efforts

With Chinese electric vehicles set to enter the Canadian market, the move could bring significant benefits for consumers, the climate and public health, experts say.

Introducing Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market will give consumers more choice while supporting environmental objectives, said Dan Ciuriak, a fellow-in-residence at the C. D. Howe Institute and director of Ciuriak Consulting.

"From a market perspective, China is now the world's pacesetter in EVs in terms of technology and price.

"It is more or less the consensus position among auto industry observers that Chinese EVs are superior to other countries' models at nearly every price point," Ciuriak told China Daily.

Ciuriak said China's strength in affordable electric vehicles could be particularly relevant for Canada's climate goals.

He said that Canada's use of high tariffs to keep Chinese EVs out of the market has undermined the country's long-term competitiveness.

While EV production in Canada has yet to take off, Ciuriak said cooperation rather than exclusion could shape future supply chains.

"This is likely the area where the 'partnership' that Prime Minister (Mark) Carney spoke of will show up — development of battery technology, for example," he said, adding that Canada has "world-class auto parts firms that are positioned technologically to stay in the game".

Canada is in discussions with Chinese automakers to establish a joint-venture electric vehicle plant aimed at global exports, Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly told Bloomberg on Friday.

Ciuriak said the Carney government's revised EV framework was more coherent than previous efforts, citing a combination of renewed consumer subsidies, infrastructure investment and industrial policies aimed at batteries and advanced vehicle technologies.

"The framework that the Carney government has announced seems pretty well thought out, unlike the Trudeau government's EV plan, which collapsed," he said.

Introducing Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market could significantly accelerate emission reductions and deliver public health benefits, said Chris Bataille, a global fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy.

Bataille said the environmental and health benefits of electrification are already well established. "The local air benefits of electric vehicles, especially in an urban setting, are measured in millions of fewer deaths globally," he said.

He said more affordable Chinese EVs could play a direct role in helping Canada cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing emissions

"The introduction of Chinese EVs, especially ones tailored to the Canadian market, perhaps with sodium-ion batteries which work better in colder temperatures, would almost certainly accelerate Canada's progress toward reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions," he said.

According to a recent Leger poll in Canada, more than 61 percent of respondents are in favor of increasing the presence of Chinese electric vehicles in Canada, including 24 percent who strongly support the move and 38 percent who somewhat support it.

Bataille said the effect would extend beyond vehicle sales alone."The effect would be direct and indirect, indirect in that it would help normalize a broader range of EVs, helping stimulate demand and potentially domestic supply," he said.

He said that Chinese EVs could help Canada meet its climate and adoption targets through greater competition.

"I do see a role for Chinese EVs in helping Canada meet its sustainability targets," he said. "Competition between a number of suppliers from as many countries as possible …should lead to lower prices and more selection, which will lead to higher demand and adoption."

Bataille said climate objectives should take priority in policy design.

"If we were serious about the Paris Agreement climate goals, all new vehicles today should be functionally zero-GHG emissions," he said, adding that this means "plug-in hybrids (with full EV operation in urban areas) or solely battery vehicles."

He said the window for a gradual transition has already closed. "Mitigation specialists have been saying 2025 was the cutoff point for this since 2016, and here we are in 2026," he said.