Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the Upcoming Federal Budget

Canada’s electric mobility sector is emerging as a strategic economic pillar with significant potential for job creation, industrial growth, productivity gains, and long‑term competitiveness. Today, the sector supports approximately 130,000 jobs across the country, spanning vehicle manufacturing, battery production, charging infrastructure, services, and supply chains. By 2035, employment in the electric mobility ecosystem is expected to expand substantially, reaching between 360,000 jobs under a conservative scenario and as many as 600,000 jobs under a moderate growth trajectory.

This growth reflects more than the direct expansion of zero‑emission vehicle manufacturing. It is driven by the broader ecosystem effects of transportation electrification, which stimulate investment and economic activity across multiple sectors. The transition to electric mobility generates sustained domestic value creation through manufacturing of vehicles and components, development and production of charging equipment, deployment of charging infrastructure, grid integration, research, education, software development and ongoing operations and maintenance. Critically, charging infrastructure is not only an enabling condition for adoption, but also a significant driver of capital investment and economic activity. Widespread adoption of both light‑duty and medium‑ and heavy‑duty vehicles anchors local job creation in communities across the country, including in construction, electrical trades, software, and energy services.

In this context, transportation electrification is not only an environmental imperative, but also a critical nation‑building opportunity with direct implications for GDP growth and industrial productivity. Canada possesses key competitive advantages, including access to critical minerals, an integrated North American automotive supply chain, a skilled workforce, and a clean electricity mix. Strategic, predictable federal investments and policy clarity can improve investment certainty, reduce deployment costs, and enable economies of scale, ensuring that Canada captures a greater share of the economic value associated with the global transition to electric mobility. These investments also play a catalytic role by crowding in private capital across charging infrastructure, electricity production and distribution, fleet electrification, and manufacturing.

Harnessing this opportunity will require coordinated action to accelerate both supply and demand, while reinforcing the enabling infrastructure and workforce needed to sustain growth. In a context of intensifying global competition for EV investment and supply chains, policy uncertainty or delayed action risks constraining growth, reducing productivity gains, and shifting investment to competing jurisdictions. With the right policy framework, the electric mobility ecosystem can serve as a cornerstone of Canada’s economic future, delivering high‑quality jobs, enhancing productivity, and strengthening long‑term economic resilience.

The following recommendations set out the federal budget priorities identified by Electric Mobility Canada’s members across the Canadian EV industry ecosystem to support growth, investment, and competitiveness.