OTTAWA \u2014 Prime Minister Mark Carney has delayed tougher new emissions standards for passenger vehicles until 2029, just eight months after the government said it wanted them to take effect in 2027.<\/p>\n
Experts say the move will buy Ottawa time to see how U.S. policy might shape up in the coming years, but critics say it\u2019s just another rollback of an environmental policy.<\/p>\n
Last week, Carney, alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford, said Canada would maintain its tailpipe standards at 2026 levels through to 2029. Carney said that will give Canada\u2019s automakers some breathing room in the face of U.S. tariffs, while helping Canada reach its emission reductions \u201cin the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n
In February, when Carney launched a new auto strategy to replace the government\u2019s scrubbed electric vehicle sales mandate, the goal was to set new standards limiting emissions from vehicle tailpipes for model years 2027 to 2032.<\/p>\n
Officials were to finalize amendments to the regulations by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
But Ottawa now says consultations on those new measures aren\u2019t set to begin until early 2027, with draft regulations coming shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n
Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois environment critic Patrick Bonin said Ottawa is again walking back its climate commitments.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/E7LIDGQT7V6DTI27FYNX4NC52I.jpg\")
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks about Canada’s response to new U.S. tariffs during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Patrick Doyle Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks about Canada’s response to new U.S. tariffs during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Patrick Doyle <\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of doing the consultation, (Carney) has decided already that he\u2019s going to freeze the emission standards until 2030. So the manufacturers won\u2019t have any obligation to build more fuel-efficient vehicles,\u201d Bonin said in French.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government is inspiring itself from what (U.S. President Donald) Trump is doing. This will delay the electrification of Canada\u2019s transportation system and the jobs it creates, many of which are in Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the auto strategy was launched in February, Carney said the new tailpipe standards would be twice as strict as existing regulations and would achieve the equivalent of a 75 per cent EV adoption rate by 2035 and 90 per cent by 2040.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat strategy talks about repealing the EV availability standard and replacing it with strong tailpipe emission regulations that would achieve similar, if not the same goals. And that was supposed to happen in tandem,\u201d said Joanna Kyriazis, the transportation lead at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank out of Simon Fraser University.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a significant delay. If the standards were supposed to be in place by model year 2027 \u2026 and now we\u2019re talking about a delay of two or three years, that will have a significant impact. Not just on greenhouse gas emissions, but I think also in Canada\u2019s place on when it comes to EV adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada typically has tried to align its tailpipe standards with the United States, given the integration of the two auto industries.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/O7NEYORBMFDBDHDXOE5VGUEAHA.JPG\")
Toronto traffic Westbound traffic is seen on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Cole Burston <\/p>\n
In September, the Trump administration released new fuel economy standards which relaxed regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.<\/p>\n
The change furthered Trump\u2019s goal of revoking policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
Brian Kingston, head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers\u2019 Association, said the move to delay more stringent emission standards on vehicles gives the government some breathing room to see where U.S. policy goes over the next several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a smart move by the federal government to do this,\u201d said Kingston, whose group represents the Canadian arms of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that there will be a new administration in the U.S. Impossible to know what direction they take, but I think you can reasonably assume there\u2019s a world in which there are increased stringencies in the future in the United States.<\/p>\n
Kingston said that, \u201cgiven the fact that we are so highly integrated with the U.S., pausing now to flatline the standard\u201d and \u201cfigure out where the Americans are going\u201d makes sense for both Canada and the industry.<\/p>\n
Kyriazis agreed the move to delay Canada\u2019s new stringent tailpipe standards amounts to a \u201cwait and see approach\u201d but said it contradicts one of the goals of the auto strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goals of that strategy are to reduce reliance on U.S. and on gas-powered vehicles. And it talks a lot about Canadian sovereignty when it comes to the cars that we drive and \u2026 the cars that we build,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think we\u2019re not quite seeing that same move toward greater sovereignty from the U.S. when it comes to the cars that we build and the cars that we drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kingston said the auto strategy was misguided in that respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no world in which we have an auto industry without integration and alignment to the United States. It\u2019s just a geographic and economic fact that we happen to sit beside the largest, most prosperous economy in the world,\u201d Kingston said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe auto strategy had some language around diversifying. Not possible. This industry is founded on our access to the U.S. market. So, while we encourage the government to find ways to build less (reliance) on the U.S. economy where you can, when it comes to manufacturing and auto, it\u2019s not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2026.<\/p>\n
Nick Murray, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n
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