Quebec Cuts Its 2035 ZEV Mandate From 100% to 80% — With No Press Conference and No Release

Quebec will continue to sell new gasoline vehicles after 2035. The CAQ government has officially confirmed a reduction of its electric vehicle targets, doing so without fanfare, without a press conference and without even an official press release — a change with major consequences for Canada's largest EV market by share.

Under the amended regulation, car manufacturers must now ensure that only 80% — rather than the previous 100% — of their sales in Quebec are electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by January 1, 2035. The province confirmed the reduction just as provincial elections were called, burying the news beneath campaigns focused on American tariffs and sovereignty.

The full year-by-year rollback

The interim targets were cut hardest. The 2027 requirement drops from 45% to 30%, the 2028 requirement from 60% to 35%, and the 2029 requirement from 75% to 44% — reductions of more than one-third in some years.

Who the rule applies to

While the target remains stringent, the regulations only apply to automakers that sell more than 4,500 vehicles annually in the province. For 2026, the automakers subject to the regulation are BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Stellantis, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Hybrids now count — a little

The amendments also stipulate that non-plug-in hybrids, which until now have not counted toward credits, will be eligible for 0.25 credits for the years 2025 through 2027. That gives conventional hybrids — the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid class of vehicle — a small foothold in the credit market for the first time.

Why this matters beyond Quebec

Quebec has been Canada's EV policy leader: it legislated its ZEV standard years before any other province, and its rebate program is the country's most generous. The federal government has already moved to repeal its own national EV sales mandate, with public consultations open until October 29. With Quebec now walking back its targets, Canada no longer has a single jurisdiction holding a 100%-by-2035 line — and the signal to automakers deciding which vehicles to allocate to the Canadian market is unmistakable.

For Quebec buyers, the near-term effect is limited: EVs and plug-in hybrids were tracking well below even the reduced 2026 target of 26%. The real impact lands in the 2030s, when the old rule would have forced the phase-out of most pure-gasoline model lines. Under the amended standard, one in five new vehicles sold in 2035 can still burn gasoline with no plug at all.

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