In comparison to the same period previous year, Tesla’s sales in Quebec decreased by 87% in the first quarter of 2025.
Tesla is no longer importing new cars, and the crucial Canadian market has been destroyed.
With the fastest rate of new electric car adoption in Canada, Quebec is the province with the largest EV market.
This is because of financial incentives, inexpensive hydroelectric power, and a sizable following of EV aficionados.
Being the market leader for electric vehicles in North America, Tesla found success in Quebec.
But the Quebec market for Tesla has vanished.
Although we don’t have all of Canada’s first-quarter vehicle registration data, Le Devoir was able to get statistics for Quebec from the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), which showed that Tesla only delivered 524 cars in that province in Q1 2025.
That represents an 87% decrease from Q1 2024.
The significant drop was caused by the halt in the federal and Quebec EV incentive programs, but the halt also occurred within the quarter, which boosted sales by instilling a sense of urgency to purchase and accept delivery.
But it also put Tesla in an embarrassing position where it was accused of submitting thousands of dubious requests for $42 million CAD in incentives, which it later said were backlogs of deliveries that it hadn’t yet submitted.
Due to its CEO Elon Musk’s support of Donald Trump, who has publicly called for the US to conquer Canada, this scandal further damaged Tesla’s reputation in Quebec and throughout Canada.
Tesla’s issues in Canada are still ongoing.
Q2 of 2025 might be much worse than Q1 was. In reaction to Trump’s trade war, the Canadian government imposed 25% tariffs on Tesla’s automobiles, forcing the company to raise prices in Canada in April.
There are very few sales in the market as a result of the termination of several incentive programs, price increases, and the declining perception of Tesla in Canada and Quebec.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Tesla has no plans to import any additional cars this quarter because of the poor demand.
The halt in the incentive program caused a 45% fall in the Canadian EV industry as a whole in Q1, but Tesla’s decline was significantly more pronounced, suggesting that there are more serious problems than the absence of incentives.
At the moment, Tesla’s circumstances in Canada are considerably worse than those in Europe. Although it isn’t the biggest market in terms of size, it has aided Tesla in North America and has a much greater rate of EV adoption than the US.
There is not much chance for Tesla in Canada as long as the tariffs remain in effect.
Musk’s support of Trump and his stupid statements, such as “Canada is not a real country,” will cause Tesla to have serious brand problems even if they are taken down, which I hope will happen soon because it would signal that Trump’s unlawful and stupid trade war will be defused.
All of those elements contribute to Tesla’s ageing and small lineup, which too much depends on the Model Y, which received a minor update that didn’t boost sales.
It’s very difficult to have hope for Tesla at the moment.
Tesla was able to acquire some inventory of the new Model Y in Canada prior to the levies. There are many Cybertrucks available if you’re interested in one. However, since I believe that prices will drop, I think it would be preferable for you to wait a little while.
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