Ottawa paid out $190M in federal EV subsidies this year as sales slowed

OTTAWA — Canadians have claimed more than $190 million in federal subsidies this year toward purchases of new electric vehicles.

New data from Transport Canada shows 44,315 claims were recorded through June, half of them from Quebec.

Ottawa relaunched the rebate program early this year and allocated $2.275 billion to it, which is meant to last up to five years.

Data from Statistics Canada shows EVs accounted for 9.6 per cent of new vehicle sales in both April and May, down from the 12 per cent in the month following the return of federal rebates.