A federal program introduced in 2019 to offer Canadian electric vehicle buyers a rebate of $5,000 went over budget by $459 million, according to an internal audit by Transport Canada.
“Despite the pandemic, the uptake of the iZEV Program was higher than expected and funding was an ongoing concern,” reads the audit, published Nov. 30, 2022, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
It adds that the federal program quickly exhausted its original $300 million funding and needed two subsequent top-ups of $287 million and $172 million—equalling a total of $459 million more than the original funding—to keep the program running until its planned end on March 31, 2022.
“Recently, Budget 2022 included an additional $1.6 billion to extend the iZEV Program to March 31, 2025. Program parameters were also modified to increase the number of makes and models of eligible new ZEVs,” the audit says….