Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault says the federal government’s new regulations surrounding electric vehicles are meant to increase the supply.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced a plan to phase out sales of internal combustion vehicles by mandating that all new vehicle sales must be electric by 2035. Additionally, 20 per cent of new vehicle sales must be electric by 2026.

“I think the purpose of the availability standard that we're announcing today is to make those electric vehicles more available, to have more models available across the country so that Canadians can buy them because clearly there is a demand,” Guilbeault told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview on Tuesday.

According to a July 2023 report from Electrifying.com, the average wait time for an electric vehicle is about 21 weeks. 

Guilbeault said the delay has Canadians interested in making the shift to electric more likely to instead buy a gas-powered vehicle instead of waiting.

"I think what is unfortunately discouraging some customers is the wait time, six months to two years in some instances,” he said.

Despite the delay, Guilbeault said about 20 per cent of new vehicles in Quebec are electric, while that figure jumps to 25 per cent in British Columbia.

HOW WILL IT BE ENFORCED?

Guilbeault said his government intends to use traditional environmental laws to enforce the electric vehicle regulations on Canadian auto dealerships.

“We're using the same regime as we've been using with car manufacturers for over a decade when it comes to complying with vehicle emission standards,” he said.