Canada: New motor vehicle registrations, first quarter 2026

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I really need to take a break from my tablet.

New motor vehicle registrations, first quarter 2026

Released: 2026-06-11

Canadians registered 397,601 new motor vehicles in the first quarter, a decrease of 6.9% from the first quarter of 2025 and a decrease of 3.7% from the fourth quarter of 2025.

Among vehicle types, new registrations for vans (+4.5%) experienced the sole growth in the first quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, pickup trucks (-11.5%), passenger cars (-11.0%) and multipurpose vehicles (-5.3%) declined compared with the first quarter of 2025.

In terms of fuel type, only zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) saw growth in new registrations in the first quarter of 2026, with those of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles increasing by 22.9% and those of battery electric vehicles increasing by 12.9%. In contrast, new registrations of diesel-powered vehicles (-25.8%), gasoline-powered vehicles (-9.2%) and hybrid electric vehicles (-0.5%) decreased compared with the first quarter of 2025.

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[NNadir]

1. In parts of Canada a plug in car is actually clean.

Quebec, Newfoundland, and Manatobia and British Columbia each have carbon intensity below 100 grams of CO₂ per kwh. Ontario is close at 111 g CO₂/kwh.

The first four rely on hydroelectricity which is considered "green" if one does not care about riparian and riverine ecosystems. (I do, but I'm eccentric.) Ontario's largest source of electricity is nuclear, using the magnificent CANDU reactors. They do burn some gas, but should be able to reduce this reliance when the Bruce reactor refurbishments are completed. The refurbishments have been proceeding in an excellent fashion, under budget and ahead of schedule. Units 1 and 2 are completed, as has that of unit 6. The refurbishment of units 3 and 4 are underway.

Electric cars are not sustainable anywhere in the world owing to material constraints and embodied energy; but then again there are no cars of any type that are sustainable. In Canada however electric and plug in hybid cars are the least offensive.

There are no grids in the United States that have carbon intensity below 100 grams of CO₂. On my grid, PJM, an electric car is dirtier in carbon intensity, if one includes embodied energy as one should, than a straight up internal combustion engine car, and a hybrid is only marginally better than an internal combustion engine car.

The only grids in Canada that rely heavily on fossil fuels are Alberta and Saskatchewan. The only grid in Canada to depend heavily on coal, the worst fossil fuel, is Saskatchewan.