Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to announce a national automotive strategy Thursday which will scrap the electric vehicle sales mandate in favour of new vehicle emissions standards and revive consumer rebates for EV purchases.

Ottawa is also set to announce an EV infrastructure fund, expected to be worth $1.5 billion.

Government and industry sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details ahead of the announcement, say Ottawa will introduce emission standards on new vehicles similar to what’s in place in Europe.

The European Union sets emissions performance standards for new passenger cars and vans, commonly known as “corporate average fuel efficiency” standards, or CAFE. The system requires that average emissions from all new passenger cars and vans meet specific emissions targets.

The European Commission says the regulations led to a 28 per cent decrease in emissions from all new passenger cars between 2019 and 2024, while emissions from new vans dropped nine per cent.

While it’s not clear what Canada’s standards will be, Europe’s current target is to ensure that all new cars and vans produce no emissions by 2035 — although revised regulations proposed in December would reduce the target to 90 per cent, allowing some flexibility for plug-in hybrids.

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One source said Canada’s new emissions regulations would get close to the reduction in emissions set out in the original EV mandate.

The previous Liberal government set a target of having EVs account for at least 20 per cent of sales across Canada this year. The target was to increase to 100 per cent by 2035.

Carney paused the EV mandate in September and launched a 60-day review to offer Canada’s auto sector liquidity in the face of the ongoing trade war with the United States.

2:06
Prime Minister Carney pauses EV mandates for 2026

Automakers had called on the government to scrap the sales mandate altogether, arguing it was unnecessary since Canada already has other policies to meet its emissions reduction targets.

As first reported by CBC News, the government is also expected to revive the popular incentives program to encourage Canadians to buy new EVs.

The incentive for zero-emission vehicles program — iZEV for short — was paused last year after its funding pool of more than $3 billion ran out.

Sources tell The Canadian Press the government will bring back the rebates at a similar level. Ottawa is expected to offer $5,000 toward the purchase of a new fully electric vehicle and $2,500 for plug-in hybrids.

Previously, fully-electric and longer-range plug-in hybrid electric vehicles received the full $5,000 rebate, while shorter-range ones were eligible for a $2,500 rebate.

Conventional hybrid vehicles will no longer be eligible for rebates, but manufacturers will be able to claim emissions credits for selling them.

Federal ministers promised during and after the spring election campaign to being back the incentives but never set a date. That frustrated car dealers who said EV sales slumped as consumers opted to wait for the rebates to return.

EV sales in Canada started to rise toward the end of 2025. According to the most recent data from Statistics Canada, EVs accounted for 11.3 per cent of all new vehicle sales in November.

Monthly sales peaked in December of 2024 at 18.29 per cent, before the iZEV program was paused.

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An immigration expert says a dip in Saskatchewan’s latest population numbers can be attributed to a decline in non-permanent residents, as the province’s official Opposition opens itself up to suggestions on how to keep young people in.

Last October, Saskatchewan’s population grew by 9,251 people compared to the same reporting period in 2024, bringing the total to 1,266,234.

But compared to the end of the second quarter in July 2025, the population dropped by 725 people.

At a Wednesday press conference, Saskatchewan’s opposition leader, Carla Beck, said the province’s population declined for the first time in 20 years. However, a slight drop in the province’s population was also recorded between January and October of 2020, when the population dropped from 1,169,426 to 1,165,963, according to the province’s population numbers.

“Let’s not assume that people don’t wanna stay here, but there are things that are keeping them from staying in this province,” Beck said.

The NDP says the population dip is due to young people leaving the province, and launched an online survey on Wednesday to gather their ideas for change.

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But according to an immigration expert, the reasons for the changing population numbers are more complex and also not unique to Saskatchewan.

“We’ve seen zero population growth throughout Canada. But in Saskatchewan, it has actually not been as precipitous as some of the other communities,” said Rupa Banerjee, Canada research chair in the economic inclusion of immigrants and professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.

In a statement to Global News, the provincial government attributes the drop in population to a “necessary reset” in the number of immigrants to Canada.

“We continue to be supportive of carefully managed immigration that benefits Saskatchewan’s and Canada’s economy, and we expect Saskatchewan’s population to return to gradual, manageable growth in the future,” the statement read.

In 2024, the federal government introduced a cap on the number of temporary foreign workers and international students to address surging immigration levels.

This also led to the scaling back of the Provincial Nominee Program, which gives provinces an allowance for the number of skilled workers they can bring in each year. Banerjee says it is the reduction of the allowances in this program that has largely impacted Saskatchewan’s population.

Alongside the drop in skilled workers coming into the province, another issue leading to the lowered population numbers is that many who come to work in the province are choosing not to stay.

“Saskatchewan has done a really good job of putting preference on skilled workers, particularly in health care, in tech, and other areas like skilled trades where we really do have labour shortages,” said Banerjee.

“So people are coming in, but the question is, how long do they stay?”

According to Banerjee, newcomers who move to the province for a job often leave because they lack the services, community and support they feel they require to settle for the long term.

“I think the solution to that is providing more services for newcomers and building community. Resources so that people can build those communities,” said Banerjee, pointing to Halifax as a city that was not previously an immigrant centre but is making strides to support new communities.

“We don’t want people just to come here temporarily and then leave. We want them to settle, we want them to have children here, we want those children to do well and be prosperous and essentially allow Canada to grow and be prosperous,” said Banerjee.

In August, Saskatchewan was granted nearly 1,100 additional spots under the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program, bringing the province’s total to 4,761.

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За першу добу підприємці подали 2700 заявок на «Енергодопомогу ФОП». Ще понад 9000 заявок було у процесі оформлення. Про це повідомила Прем’єр­міністр Юлія Свириденко.

«Одноразову безповоротну фінансову допомогу до 15 000 гривень можуть отримати ФОПи 2—3 груп, які працюють у соціально важливих галузях і забезпечують людей ліками, продуктами та іншими базовими послугами. Програму спрямовано на підтримку малого бізнесу для забезпечення безперервної роботи в періоди відключень електроенергії», — зазначила очільниця уряду.Кошти можна спрямувати на придбання або ремонт генераторів та іншого енергообладнання, пальне для генераторів або оплату електроенергії для автономної роботи під час відімкнень.Подання заявок відбувається онлайн через портал «Дія», повідомляє Департамент інформації та комунікацій з громадськістю Секретаріату КМУ.

Restaurants across B.C. that use a company to manage tip collection and staff wages say it has, without stating why, stopped distributing money and some restaurants are reporting that they are out thousands of dollars.

Everyday Payments is described as “delivering real-time employee payouts. Businesses using the service span hospitality, food service, beauty, wellness, and commission-based industries.

“Leveraging the AnyDay platform, the solution combines a powerful employer portal with a flexible mobile app and payment card for cardholders; simplifying fund management, improving visibility and control, and enabling faster, more predictable access to earnings.”

Eric Griffith, owner of Alta Bistro and Alpha Cafe in Whistler, told Global News that when he logged in to the system last Wednesday morning, he knew something was wrong.

“We’re missing $4,550,” he said.

“But I thought, ‘OK, this has to just be an error. They’ll resolve it. They must know that this has happened.’ Well, the emails go out, try to contact support, whatever, and it was just no response until the weekend.”

Griffith said business owners started realizing they were not alone.

“Monday, there was a press release from the company, which is what they emailed us as well, saying there’s some type of compliance issue. We’re working through it, and there’s a reconciliation, but no answers to any questions as to why this happened,” he said.

“What is the intention? When is the money coming back?”

Griffith said they started using the program as it saves time and administrative work and keeps track of all the money and staff tips.

“So this piece of technology was very useful and working well, absolutely well,” he said.

“The staff were happy. I was happy because I was saving time, and also it was just easy.”

However, with so much uncertainty now, Griffith said he doesn’t know what to do.

“So if it’s 5,000 to me and it’s $100,000 to someone else, it’s still like relative impact, right, which is ultimately hurting the business, the ability for the owners and businesses to pay the staff, and then, I mean, for me, it comes down to paying my suppliers and other things, right?,” he added.

“That money becomes a hole, right? So, yeah, I don’t want to think.”

4:43
Canada restaurant outlook 2026

Matthew Upton, one of the owners of The Broken Seal restaurant in Squamish, told Global News they are missing $12,000.

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“It’s huge,” he said.

“That’s over two weeks’ worth of payroll. It’s half of what our ends is. It’s a huge effect for us.”

Upton said the last week has been very challenging, trying to get in touch with someone at Everyday Payments. He said he was on hold for four hours on Friday, four hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday and never got a response from anyone until Monday.

“It’s very concerning,” he said.

“It’s, I think, as a whole, the hospitality industry is not an easy industry to be in, and when there’s unknowns, we have such small margins, so keeping as much money in our bank account is the most important thing. So when you have large amounts come out, it’s definitely daunting, for sure.”

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association, said he has heard the same issues from restaurants all over the province.

“I have just read two emails in the last five minutes,” he told Global News.

“One restaurant group lost $50,000, one restaurant group is out $15,000 — one’s in Prince George, one’s in Vancouver.”

Tostenson said in the case of one Vancouver restaurant, close to one million dollars was taken out of the “wallet” that Everyday Payments manages on behalf of employees to distribute tips.

“This is really, really serious, and there’s a lot of concern in the industry, because these funds go into a third party for the purposes of paying out and distribute the gratuities to our hard-working employees,” he added.

“And they’ve the company that manages that, Everyday Payments, for some reason that we don’t know, have taken the money and emptied all the wallets. I think this is in the millions of dollars, to be perfectly honest with you. This is really serious.”

Global News has reached out to Everyday Payments.

Initially, a form message was received, stating, “As you can imagine, Everyday People are inundated. Note that card creation and loading are temporarily paused while they work with DC Bank to resolve a service interruption affecting new card loads.

“Existing cardholders are not impacted and can continue using their cards as normal, but additional loads cannot be processed at this time.”

Later, a spokesperson for the company said in an email that they are aware of the concerns and they understand why the timing has been stressful for some restaurants.

“We are reviewing inquiries relating to a short transition period at the end of January, during which operational adjustments were implemented to move the platform to a fully prefunded processing model,” the statement read.

“During this period, some merchants experienced delays or changes in the timing of debits and loads.

“Importantly, funds were not removed from merchant accounts or cardholder wallets other than through established funding and settlement processes.”

Tostenson said the issue began after the company merged with another, and each appears to be pointing the finger at the other.

” Anybody is trying to reach out to the companies, all they’re doing is getting standard administrative messages back,” he said.

“And in the meantime, we’re scrambling to make sure that our employees are whole, so we’re having to find the money that’s gone to make sure we pay our employees. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Tostenson said the guidance from the industry now is for businesses to check their wallets online and see what money is in there.

He also confirmed that police reports have been filed in Whistler and Prince George, but no one has heard from the company.

“The question that everybody wants to know is, where is my money?” Tostenson said.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper said late Wednesday that Canada must urgently pivot in the face of an erratic U.S. president and reduce its dependence on the American market to protect its sovereignty and the continued functioning of the economy.

Speaking at a gala in Ottawa to mark the 20 years since he formed a Conservative government, Harper said while he has “largely stayed silent” on U.S. aggression up until now, he feels compelled to speak out about what he described as an existential threat.

He said the U.S. has become “hostile” and its leader, President Donald Trump, is openly questioning Canadian sovereignty, launching threats and betraying trade deals, which poses a “serious challenge” that demands a muscular response.

While Canadians are “understandingly shocked, bewildered and angry” by what Trump and his enablers have done in recent months, Harper said the country must put emotion aside and focus on policy.

He said many in the business community believe “things will go back to the way they were in due course with secure predictable access” to the U.S. market with an American government that “upholds a global order.”

“I do not believe that is a safe assumption,” Harper said.

“Canada must adapt to new geopolitical realities. To be clear, these realities mean we must reduce our dependence on the U.S.”

While the U.S. will be the country’s “principal partner” owing to geography and longstanding trade ties, Harper said Canada’s ongoing relationship with the States requires “balanced and sober reflection.”

WATCH | Stephen Harper speaks at his official portrait unveiling ceremony:

FULL SPEECH | Stephen Harper speaks at his official portrait unveiling ceremony

Former prime minister Stephen Harper delivered a speech at the unveiling of his official portrait in Ottawa on Tuesday. The portrait of Canada’s 22nd prime minister was painted by Toronto artist Josh Richards.

Consider tariffs against U.S.: Harper

As Canada prepares to review CUSMA, its free trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico, Harper said the government must ensure two outcomes from those negotiations: protecting Canada’s industrial base and preserving the right to sell its critical resources to non-U.S. countries.

Harper said Canada should consider levying tariffs on U.S. goods because a one-sided tariff arrangement could decimate the manufacturing sector.

Prime Minister Mark Carney dropped many of Canada’s reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods last summer as he pushed Trump to end the trade war.

And Harper warned that Canada must not become a captive resource colony of the U.S., shipping its valuable energy and minerals to a single customer.

He said Canada must also push through an oil pipeline to the B.C. coast and streamline regulatory processes to quickly build other projects that can help prop up an economy facing an assault and attract global capital.

“Not someday, but right now,” he said. “Friends, we need this.”

Harper said supporting the natural resources sector will solve two of the country’s problems: reducing the country’s overreliance on the flow of goods to the U.S. and western alienation that has prompted an Alberta separatist movement.

While Harper has said relatively little about his successor, former prime minister Justin Trudeau, he said Wednesday that the last Liberal government reversed many of the policies he enacted while in office “leaving Canada so much weaker and divided.”

Harper’s call to rethink the Canada-U.S. relationship is especially notable given he’s previously described himself as “probably the most pro-American prime minister in Canadian history.”

Meanwhile, Carney has launched the Major Projects Office to help fast-track projects in the natural resources and energy space. And as part of his memorandum of understanding with Alberta, Carney has also endorsed a new oil pipeline to the Pacific to sell more Canadian oil to markets in Asia and elsewhere.

Harper invokes historic comparisons

Harper also noted in his remarks Wednesday evening that Canada has stared down aggressive Americans before.

In 1866, the year before Confederation, some members of the U.S. government floated Canadian annexation and ripped up an existing free trade deal with Canada.

The country’s leaders at the time did not shrink in the face of U.S. hostility, Harper said, but banded together to form a new nation, Canada, to resist American expansionism — and a similar approach is needed now.

“It’s fashionable to pronounce everything today as unprecedented,” he said, something that comes about because we’ve become a country that “doesn’t teach history anymore.”

But what happened then and what’s going on now are “uncannily” similar, he said. 

Harper’s frankness on the topic stands in stark contrast to current Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who did not mention Trump by name in his remarks to a party convention last weekend.

WATCH | Former PMs Stephen Harper, Jean Chrétien discuss Canadian unity:

FULL Q&A | Former PMs Stephen Harper and Jean Chrétien talk Canadian unity in fireside chat

Former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Jean Chrétien met for a fireside chat on Monday in Ottawa after the Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded Harper its gold medal for his career in public service and his tenure as Canada’s 22nd prime minister.

Manchester City will seek permission for a rule change that would allow Marc Guehi to play in next month’s Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

The January signing from Crystal Palace has slotted straight into City’s starting XI but was ineligible for last night’s comfortable 3-1 semi-final second leg win over Newcastle.

While fellow January recruit Antoine Semenyo was free to play, Guehi was prevented from featuring because he joined City after the first leg against Newcastle took place.

As things stand the England international will have to watch from the sidelines again when his new side locks horns with the current Premier League leaders on March 22, much to Guardiola’s annoyance.

Guardiola acknowledged he did not expect City to be successful, but said they will make their case regardless.

‘Why should he not play? Why not?’ Guardiola said. ‘He’s our player, we pay his salary, we hired him…

‘We want to ask. I said to the club we have to ask definitely. I don’t understand the reason why he cannot play in the final of the Carabao Cup in March when he has been here a long time…

‘Of course we are going to ask because it’s pure logic. (But) to change the rule, no way. But we will try.’

Guardiola’s complaints didn’t stop at Guehi’s potential participation, however, and also made reference to his annoyance at having to travel to London for another showpiece occasion.

He said: ‘We’re going to travel to London [for the Carabao Cup final], they [Arsenal] will wait for us there; all the time we have to travel. Never [the opposition] travel to the North of England [for a Final].’

Omar Marmoush was the star for City as he scored the opening two goals of the night before Tijjani Reijnders added a third, all inside 35 minutes.

Guardiola would have been concerned by the number of chances Newcastle created after the break, but with Anthony Elanga’s 62nd-minute strike the only one they converted, City were never overly troubled.

The win continues City’s run of having played at Wembley at least once every season since 2010-11.

‘I do not take it for granted,’ Guardiola said. ‘I know how difficult it is. I don’t know how many semi-finals and finals we have played in the FA Cup but it’s really good, and in 10 years five Carabao Cup finals so it’s really good: top, top, top.’

Marmoush, who previously scored a hat-trick against Newcastle, once again grabbed his chance against the Magpies with Erling Haaland starting on the bench.

‘He gives us a special quality,’ Guardiola said of the Egyptian. ‘His pace, his moments in behind, and his work ethic.’

Newcastle arrived in Manchester trailing 2-0 from the reverse fixture and knowing a strong start was essential.

Instead, they found themselves quickly 3-0 down and effectively out of it.

‘(I was) really annoyed with the first half display,’ boss Eddie Howe said. ‘We pride ourselves on being really organised and tactically we want to be able to handle any problem the opposition gives us. That first half we weren’t good enough individually and our duels were off and it gave us huge problems.’

To add to Howe’s worries, Anthony Gordon was forced off before half-time.

‘It looks like a hamstring problem,’ Howe said. ‘I don’t qute know how bad it was but it was enough for him to come off so that’s a big worry.’

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