Transport Canada should freeze the $43 million in public EV subsidies claimed by U.S. car manufacturer Tesla and commit to reimbursing the Canadian auto dealers who are out more than $10 million, says NDP MP Brian Masse.
鈥淭hat’s the bare minimum,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e need to have this investigated by Transport Canada and maybe the Competition Bureau should be looking at this.鈥
鈥淲e need transparency right now about how this even happened in terms of the volumes and the co-ordinated approach that took place from these dealerships.鈥
Earlier this month, the Star reported that Tesla made an unprecedented number of rebate claims in the three days after the government announced the iZEV program was winding down, reporting to have sold more than 8,600 EVs 鈥 a rate of two vehicles a minute, 24 hours a day 鈥 until the program ran out of money.
When other independently owned聽car dealerships attempted to claim rebates, they found the government filing system had been shut down and they were left out of pocket after having fronted approximately $10 million to customers.
Masse, who represents the auto manufacturing hub of Windsor West, said this is made worse, in his view, by the fact that it occurred while Tesla CEO Elon Musk stood beside U.S. President Donald Trump as he launched a trade war against Canada.
“To see Elon Musk using the rhetoric of us being a 51st state ...聽and now his Tesla empire is getting a boost from the Canadian government 鈥 it鈥檚 stressful,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t’s at the expense of Canadian taxpayers and also Canadian auto workers.鈥
鈥淭esla Takedown鈥 protests and incidents of vandalism at Tesla dealerships have recently arisen in U.S. and Canadian cities聽鈥 including in Hamilton and Montreal 鈥 to denounce Musk and his role as a key figure in Trump鈥檚 administration.
Some vehicles, which were parked outdoors at the dealership on Upper Wentworth Street, had
SURREY, B.C. - Canadians in several cities, including Ottawa and Vancouver have joined a wav…
Transport Canada, which administers the iZEV program, refuses to say whether the $43.1 million claimed by Tesla has been paid out. Former transport minister Anita Anand and current Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland have declined requests for interviews.
鈥淭ransport Canada continues to assess the large batch of claims submitted by dealerships after the announcement of the iZEV Program鈥檚 pause on Jan. 12, 2025. Transport Canada is examining all possible options for dealerships who did not submit their eligibility application before the deadline,鈥 wrote Freeland鈥檚 spokesperson Laura Scaffidi in an email.
Tesla has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The NDP has promised that it would restart the EV rebate program and double its value to car buyers, providing $10,000 toward the purchase of a Canadian-made EV. At the same time, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said he would impose a 100 per cent tariff on all Tesla vehicles for the duration of the trade war with the United States, mirroring the existing tariff on Chinese EVs.
The last-minute surge in rebate claims has raised questions. The iZEV rules on Transport Canada鈥檚 website explicitly stated that rebate claims 鈥渕ust鈥 be made 鈥渂efore the delivery of the vehicle,鈥 indicating that dealerships cannot backfile for cars they have already sold. But when contacted about the 8,653 rebates Tesla claimed in three days, Transport Canada said that this is only 鈥渞ecommended.鈥
A department spokesperson later admitted: 鈥淭esla didn鈥檛 sell those cars that weekend.鈥
If the rules were not enforced and Tesla is allowed to backfile thousands of previously made sales, said Masse, the least the government could do is cut the 226 Canadian car dealers who fronted rebates the same slack.
鈥淭here’s a loophole that you could drive a Cybertruck through,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely astonishing and reprehensible because our dealerships across this country work hard every single day,鈥 said Masse. 鈥淭hey are actually the ones providing stability for vehicles that are in rural, remote and other places where the Tesla dealerships are not.鈥
Several dealers who spoke to the Star said they provided rebates totalling $300,000 and even $400,000 and are considering layoffs if the government doesn’t pay them back.
Masse says the iZEV rebate program has been a 鈥渃omplete debacle鈥 from the beginning as it excluded the Chrysler Pacifica minivan聽鈥 the only Canadian-made consumer EV聽鈥 and funnelled public funds instead to Tesla and other foreign EV manufacturers.聽
Tesla has claimed more of the public subsidy than any other manufacturer, taking $713 million of the nearly $1.9 billion handed out by the government since 2019.
With Teslas being paraded in front of the White House while Trump threatens tariffs to destabilize Canada鈥檚 economy, Masse said he’s surprised this payout hasn鈥檛 become a bigger issue.
鈥淭he mere fact that there’s dead silence on this is very disturbing. ... The only way to clean this up is to start to find out what happened.鈥
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