Liberals Force Canadians to Subsidize American Cars

February 5, 2026

February 5, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON – Raquel Dancho, Conservative Shadow Minister for Industry, and Kyle Seeback, Conservative Shadow Minister for Labour, released the following statement:

“The sad truth is that if you’re a Canadian auto worker, this electric vehicle (EV) announcement is another insult from Mark Carney. This will have almost zero benefit for Canadian auto workers and manufacturers.

“Today’s announcement comes at a time when 5,000 Canadian auto sector jobs have been lost, including 3,000 at Stellantis, 500 directly at GM’s plant in Oshawa, and 725 at Paccar. In 2016, 2.3 million cars were assembled in Canada, but that number has plummeted to 1.2 million last year. Real GDP for auto manufacturing fell nearly 10 per cent month-over-month in November 2025 alone. 

“A worker support program, however noble, does not create new work for Canadians. If you’re an autoworker in Brampton and were supposed to build the Jeep Compass EV, or among the 1200 workers impacted by the closure of the third shift in Oshawa, learning that up to $2.3 billion in Canadian taxpayer dollars will now subsidize the American auto industry is cold comfort.

“Despite the Liberals signing $52 billion in agreements to create an EV supply chain in Canada, the vast majority of vehicles produced and sold in Canada are gas-powered. Today’s announcement will benefit countries like the United States that make far more EVs than Canadians drive.

“Instead of getting the trade deal promised by July 21st, 2025 that would support our workers, Mark Carney will have taxpayers subsidize other foreign-made EVs. In fact, the rebate will now help American EV producers that relocated to the US from Canada because of American tariffs.

“That’s insulting. Canadian taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for American EVs like the Jeep Compass that should have been built in Canada.

“For years, Conservatives have been clear: forcing 100% of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2035, when EVs still represent a minority of sales, was unrealistic and created prolonged uncertainty for manufacturers and workers making long-term investment decisions. In Q3 of 2025, less than 10% of cars registered in Canada were Zero Emissions Vehicles. 

“Liberal delays in ending the mandate only compounded that uncertainty, leaving the sector in limbo while jobs were being lost and confidence eroded. This announcement is proof that the Liberals are more concerned with their ideological crusade than getting a deal on trade and supporting Canadian workers.

“Canada has a proud, more-than-100-year history of building world-class automobiles, supporting over 600,000 direct and indirect jobs and contributing more than $16 billion to our economy. Decisions that affect this sector must strengthen, not undermine, Canadian workers and domestic production.

“Once again, Mark Carney and the Liberals admit Conservatives were right all along and cancelled the EV mandate. However, yet again, Mark Carney and the Liberals have failed to put Canadian workers and auto-makers first.”