Electric-vehicles have been a talking point in Ontario’s upcoming election.

Challengers are promising to restore rebates, while the incumbent Progressive Conservatives tout their supply-side approach to expand EV manufacturing, transit and highways. But experts say the prevailing party will need a more robust industrial strategy, including for battery-metal refining, electrical transmission and chargers. 

Here’s a look at what each party is promising: 

PC

• A $1-billion-plus, three-year plan to encourage skilled trades.
• A trade council to protect the auto industry.
• $1 billion for a road in the disputed Ring of Fire. 
• Previously announced junior-miner fund and $5-million critical-minerals innovation fund. 

Liberal

• Up to $9,500 in combined non-luxury EV and charger rebates, and $500 for e-bikes.
• Zero-emission mandates for medium and heavy-duty trucks and public-sector fleets. Aims to put green hydrogen refuelling stations on Highway 401.
• Calls for a “North American Battery Alliance”; dedicated fund for the province’s battery supply chain.
• Fully funding road access in the Ring of Fire, with five per cent of mining tax going to Northern municipalities.

NDP

• Rebates up to $10,000 per non-luxury ZEV. 
• Tax of five to seven per cent on luxury vehicles and a cleantech bank for manufacturing.
• Establish stable energy prices for mining. Work with educators to encourage students to pursue mining careers.
• In the Ring of Fire, send all mining tax revenue to Northern Indigenous communities and guarantee jobs for Indigenous people. 

(Here’s the Green platform and Ontario Party platform.)

The reaction: Moe Kabbara, director of electrification at Transition Accelerator, said there seems to be party consensus on the economic importance of EVs, but a division on crucial demand-side incentives.

Kabbara said the government will not be able to close every supply-side deal without a more comprehensive industrial policy amid concerns about a lack of electrical infrastructure for major projects like cathode-materials plants.

Jamie Kneen, Canada program co-lead and outreach coordinator at MiningWatch Canada, said politicians’ Ring of Fire employment promises may amount to little more than marketing, with years-long mine development and little to sustain the industry in the meantime, like government stockpiling or local processing mandates. EVs are no silver bullet for climate issues like biodiversity, Kneen said.

“[There are] First Nations communities which are in desperate need of investments in housing, in education and infrastructure … safe water to drink. Building a mine somewhere in the region isn’t going to change that by itself,” he said.