Article content

Finance Minister Bill Morneau would really like it if your next car was electric, and in his 2019 budget, he allocated $435 million for zero-emissions vehicles.

“Building a better Canada also means helping people be part of the clean economy—with energy bills that they can afford, and cleaner ways to get around,” Morneau said in his budget speech.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Electric car buyers get boost with $5,000 incentive for consumers and tax write-offs for business Back to video

For starters, the federal government is going to spend $300 million over three years to offer a $5,000 purchase incentive for people who buy electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, so long as the retail price of the vehicle is less than $45,000.

How exactly this will work remains to be seen; with the budget document simply promising “program details to follow.”

Moreover, for business the government is offering substantially more generous tax write-offs if they buy vehicles that are electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cells.

Businesses will be able to write off capital costs for eligible zero-emission vehicles in the year that the vehicle was purchased, instead of writing off slowly over time.