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The reborn federal electric vehicle (EV) rebate program launches today, but some auto dealers in Canada say they’re still out tens of thousands dollars from the last one.
Canadians can now access up to $5,000 in government rebates toward the purchase of EVs that cost under $50,000. Plug-in hybrids will be eligible for $2,500 in subsidies.
The return of the popular program is being welcomed by car dealerships. But some of them have their guard up because the government’s portal to submit reimbursement claims won’t be launched until April.
“It’s a little worrisome,” said Dean Woods, sales manager at a Kia dealership in Grimsby, Ont. “Obviously my antlers are a little bit more raised with what’s going on, and I’m going to be on top of every claim, just because I don’t trust the system anymore.”
Woods said his dealership is out $20,000 from the old program after Transport Canada refused to reimburse it for rebates applied to EVs it sold.
The cars were sold in 2024, but the dealership’s office manager didn’t notice they hadn’t been reimbursed by the government until a month ago. Woods wrote to Transport Canada asking to be reimbursed, but the federal department refused because the program had ended a year ago.
Canada’s auto industry is betting the government’s EV rebate revival will help accelerate slow electric vehicle sales, though some consumers still worry about limited range and charging infrastructure.
After Woods pressed Transport Canada further and provided documentation to support the claims, it chalked it up to an error in the submission form.
“Therefore, you never received the claim number confirmations for these four submissions and it was never received by the iZEV Program,” a Transport Canada official said in a letter to Woods last month that he shared with The Canadian Press.
“If the program was still active, you could have resubmitted the claims, however, since the program is now closed, resubmission or reimbursement is no longer possible.”
Under both the old and new EV incentives program, dealerships are supposed to apply the $5,000 rebate directly at the point of purchase, then send a claim in to the government for reimbursement.
Huw Williams, a spokesperson for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, said the process amounts to dealerships having to “front the money on behalf of the federal government, which has an enormous treasury.”
“Dealers are small, independent businesses, and when there’s been historic problems, Transport Canada has not always shown flexibility to solve the problem,” he added.
Williams couldn’t say exactly how many other dealerships are still waiting on…
Read More: Car dealers seek reimbursement for EVs sold under old rebate program as new
