More Than 90% Of Canadian-Built Vehicles Go To The U.S. So Why Is Carney Tightening Canada's Auto Emissions Rules While America Rolls Theirs Back?

The government says it intends to more than double the stringency of those standards by 2035, explicitly putting Canada on a path toward 75% EV sales by 2035 and 90% by 2040.

Now look at what America is doing.

The Trump administration is rolling U.S. fuel economy requirements in the opposite direction. Its new approach targets an industry average of roughly 34.5 MPG by 2031, compared with about 50.4 MPG under the Biden rules.

That creates a serious Canadian question.

We don’t really have an independent Canadian auto market.

More than 93% of our motor vehicle exports go to the United States. Statistics Canada also estimates that 76.4% of Canadian auto manufacturing jobs were supported by U.S. demand in 2024.

Ford, GM, Stellantis, Toyota and Honda make investment decisions for a continental market.

Now Canada is deliberately tightening emissions requirements to accelerate EV adoption while our overwhelmingly largest customer is loosening its fuel economy requirements and giving manufacturers more room to sell gasoline vehicles and hybrids.

So when the next assembly line, vehicle platform or billion-dollar investment is allocated, what makes Canada more attractive under two increasingly different rulebooks?

Everyone is watching tariffs.

We should also be watching the regulations Canada controls itself.

Because when more than 90% of what you export goes to one country, separating your auto rules from theirs is not a small experiment.

It puts Canadian factories and Canadian jobs right in the middle of it.

Sources: Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, U.S. NHTSA.

MORE THAN 90% OF CANADIAN-BUILT VEHICLES GO TO THE U.S. SO WHY IS CARNEY TIGHTENING CANADA’S AUTO EMISSIONS RULES WHILE AMERICA ROLLS THEIRS BACK?

Ottawa is developing stronger greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks beginning with model year 2027. The… pic.twitter.com/ld8cv4bXlE

— Slk55again (@slk55again)September 28, 2026

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