FEDERAL PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATION
Propulsion Québec, the industrial cluster of electric and intelligent transportation (TEI), submitted its priorities for the 2025 budget as part of the federal pre-budget consultation.
“The Canadian government must maintain financial supports until parity is reached between electric vehicles and combustion vehicles and ensure that program applications are processed efficiently. The deployment of charging infrastructure is also critical and must be aligned with the electric vehicle fleet — for light, medium and heavy vehicles alike,” says Michelle LLambías Meunier, President and CEO of Propulsion Québec.
Improve access to capital
TheInflation Reduction Act(IRA) of the United States has notably increased the financing available for companies in the electric vehicle manufacturing sector and their components, charging station systems, and the extraction and processing of critical and strategic minerals. Access to capital for Canadian companies becomes crucial to ensure their competitiveness.
Propulsion Québec therefore recommends the following measures:
- Create a financing vehicle specifically aimed at commercializing innovations in the TEI sector.
- Accelerate the adoption and deployment of investment tax credits (CII) for clean technologies and for the manufacturing of clean technologies (FTP).
- Relax the 10% investment tax credit for the electric vehicle supply chain to make eligible companies operating in at least one segment of the chain (manufacture and assembly of electric vehicles, production of batteries and components (anodes, cathodes, separators, current collectors and electrolyte) as well as battery cells, modules and packs).
- Establish a financing program to support the battery manufacturing sector.
- Set up a financing mechanism to support the commercialization and deployment of innovative technologies that reduce the carbon and environmental impact of the battery value chain.
Furthermore, the Government of Canada must accelerate access to financing through existing programs, notably the Strategic Innovation Fund.
The importance of maintaining incentives for the transition to transport electrification
The various incentive programs for electrification will expire soon. To ensure better predictability for companies that wish to plan their investments over the coming years, we consider it essential to extend them. This is notably the case for the following programs, which have a significant impact on the energy transition and on improving the energy performance of the transportation sector:
- The Incentives Program for Zero-Emission Medium and Heavy Vehicles (iVMLZE)
- The Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (PIVEZ).
- The Incentives Program for the Purchase of Zero-Emission Vehicles (iVZE).
“The government must continue to encourage the electrification of school and public transit, which improves air quality in cities and reduces GHGs, particularly in dense urban areas. We welcome that the future Public Transit Fund provides targeted funding for the electrification of public transit and school transport vehicles. We consider dedicated support for the electrification of vehicles and associated infrastructure essential,” concludes Ms. LLambías Meunier
Click here to consult Propulsion Québec’s brief on the subject.
About Propulsion Québec
Quebec’s industrial cluster for electric and intelligent transportation is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate the growth of Quebec’s zero-emission land transportation industry and strengthen its international competitiveness. It was created in 2017 and today has more than 210 member companies and organizations from the TEI ecosystem that it represents and mobilizes around initiatives. Propulsion Québec currently focuses its initiatives around three streams: zero-emission vehicles, charging, and batteries. The cluster benefits from the financial support of the Government of Quebec, the Government of Canada, the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), the Desjardins Group, Fasken and Hydro-Québec.
