Quebec posted the weakest provincial performance in Canada’s new light vehicle market in 2025, with sales down 3.2 per cent year over year, according to new data from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
DAC said the decline was largely driven by a sharp drop in the fourth quarter as the province cycled past a ZEV incentive-fuelled surge late in 2024. Quebec’s sales fell 17.9 per cent in December compared with what DAC described as an “artificially inflated” prior-year result.
British Columbia, also a ZEV-heavy market, was the only other province to finish the year in negative territory, down 0.6 per cent from 2024. All other provinces recorded gains. Nova Scotia led the country with an 11.7 per cent increase, followed by Saskatchewan at 9.6 per cent and Newfoundland and Labrador at 8.9 per cent.
“The provincial story of 2025 was undoubtedly Quebec coming down from significant ZEV-driven heights,” said Andrew King, managing partner at DAC, in a statement. “However, widespread weakness, especially in all the other large markets of Ontario, B.C. and Alberta, in the final quarter of the year definitely creates a worrying environment heading into 2026.”
Nationally, December new light vehicle sales totalled 126,000 units, down 7.3 per cent. For the full year, Canada’s market reached 1.90 million units sold, up 2.0 per cent from 1.86 million in 2024.
With Quebec and B.C. cooling after incentive-driven peaks, and signs of late-year weakness in Ontario and Alberta, dealers may face a more challenging environment for pricing, inventory planning and EV turn rates.
