Ottawa, ON – Since Mark Carney became Prime Minister, over 5,000 jobs have been lost in our auto sector, resulting in thousands of families worrying about paying their mortgage and putting food on the table. While Carney’s failure to get his promised trade deal has contributed to the job loss, Liberals have been failing our auto sector for a decade. 

Since 2016, the number of automobiles produced in Canada has been cut in half from 2.3 million a decade ago to 1.2 million last year. Instead of delivering a plan that builds up our auto sector, the Liberals spent $52.5 billion trying to build electric vehicles that most Canadians don’t want to buy.

The result is just one fully-electric car – the Dodge Charger EV – being assembled in Canada. Meanwhile, just 11.3% of new vehicle purchases in November 2025 were zero-emission vehicles, down from its peak of 18.3% in the prior December. That’s a 35.6% decrease in demand compared to November 2024.

After failing to build electric vehicles or convince people to buy them, Carney is doubling down on subsidies to foreign car manufacturers as Canada’s auto sector is in decline. Under the previous electric vehicle rebate, 99 per cent of subsidies went to fund foreign EVs, with 31% to EVs coming from the US.

Instead of standing up for Canadian industry, Carney is rewarding the same American manufacturers moving jobs south of the border after Donald Trump declared war on our auto sector. The new auto strategy is a slap in the face to Canadian workers who will now be forced to subsidize foreign-made vehicles they can’t afford.

That’s why Conservatives introduced a motion calling on the government to fix their auto strategy to put our country first. It puts forward common-sense changes that will protect workers and defend our industry by:

  • scrapping the subsidies for foreign-made electric vehicles entering Canada that forces Canadian workers to subsidize $50,000 new cars
  • removing the GST on Canadian-made vehicles
  • using their existing authority to reduce the amount of tax withheld on severance payments issued to workers at the GM CAMI facility in Ingersoll, the GM facility in Oshawa, the Stellantis facility in Brampton, the Paccar facility in Sainte-Thérèse, and all other severance packages for Canadian workers.

As the over 5,000 Canadian auto workers now out of a job struggle to buy groceries, cover bills and pay mortgages, mandatory tax withholding is taking tens of thousands of dollars out of some workers’ lump-sum payouts. This is money that they earned and are entitled to, not a free loan to the government until their tax refund.

While a necessary first step for families who cannot afford to wait until tax season to recover these funds, our proud auto workers need decisive action from Ottawa to keep our industry competitive.

That’s why Conservatives put forward real solutions for an auto strategy that builds our country, including removing the GST on Canadian-made vehicles, and halting the Liberal plan to give even a single cent to subsidize US-made vehicles, while American tariffs remain on Canadian autos.

Conservatives will always fight for a Canada that has good jobs and powerful paycheques from building the things the world needs.