Car Sales Statistics in Canada (2026): New Vehicle & EV Trends
How many cars are sold in Canada? 1.9 million in 2025. Sales trends, the SUV takeover, EV market share, top brands, prices and forecasts.
Key takeaways
- Canadians bought about 1.90 million new light vehicles in 2025 — up roughly 2% and the most since 2019, but still about 7% below the 2017 record of 2.04 million (InsuranceXpert analysis).
- The passenger car is nearly extinct: trucks, SUVs and vans were 87.6% of 2025 sales, leaving traditional cars at about 12% — down from a majority a decade ago.
- EV momentum reversed: the zero-emission share of new sales fell from about 14.6% in 2024 to 8.7% in 2025 after federal rebates lapsed, though it rebounded to 11.2% by Q4 2025.
- Ford's F-Series was Canada's best-seller for a 15th straight year (138,470 units), and the compact-SUV segment alone topped 553,000 sales — roughly 29% of the whole market (InsuranceXpert analysis).
Canadians bought about 1.90 million new light vehicles in 2025 — the strongest year since 2019, and still roughly 7% short of the 2017 record of 2.04 million (InsuranceXpert analysis). Eight years on, the market has not recovered its peak. What has changed underneath is more dramatic than the total: the passenger car has collapsed to about 12% of sales, and the compact SUV alone now takes roughly 29% of the entire market. Sales, segments, EV share, best-sellers and prices — sourced, with our figures labelled (InsuranceXpert analysis).
How many cars are sold in Canada each year?
Canadians bought about 1.90 million new light vehicles in 2025 — the most since 2019, and up roughly 2% on the year. The chart above shows the full arc since 2012.
The story has three acts: a steady climb to an all-time record of 2.04 million in 2017, a pandemic-and-supply-chain collapse that bottomed at 1.49 million in 2022 — the fewest since 2009 — and a recovery to 1.72 million (2023), 1.86 million (2024) and 1.90 million (2025). Even so, 2025 sales sat about 7% below the 2017 peak (InsuranceXpert analysis), so “recovery” doesn’t mean new highs.
| Year | New light-vehicle sales | Year over year |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2,038,800 | +4.6% (record) |
| 2019 | 1,914,357 | −3.6% |
| 2020 | ~1,540,000 | −19.5% (pandemic) |
| 2022 | 1,489,000 | −9.2% (low since 2009) |
| 2023 | 1,720,000 | +15.5% (restated) |
| 2024 | 1,860,000 | +8.2% |
| 2025 | ~1,900,000 | +2.0% |
Sources: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants / trade press. 2020 is approximate; 2023 was restated to 1.72M (see methodology).
Are car sales in Canada rising or falling?
Rising, but the recovery is losing steam. The full-year 2025 gain was modest at about 2%, and the momentum reversed early in 2026: first-quarter 2026 sales fell 4.4% year over year. Part of 2025’s strength was a pull-forward as buyers rushed ahead of expected tariffs — the annualized selling rate peaked near 1.99 million in May 2025 before slipping to about 1.81 million by November. Scotiabank forecasts roughly 1.84 million for 2026, a slight decline.
Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants; 2026 = Scotiabank forecast. 2020 approximate; 2023 restated to 1.72M.
Do Canadians buy more trucks or cars?
Trucks and SUVs have all but taken over — they were 87.6% of 2025 sales. The traditional passenger car is disappearing from Canadian driveways.
| Body type | Share of sales |
|---|---|
| Light trucks, SUVs, crossovers, vans (2025) | 87.6% (record high) |
| Passenger cars (2025) | ~12% |
| Passenger cars (2024) | 13.4% (record low) |
Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
The single dominant bloc is the compact SUV, which topped 553,000 units in 2025 — roughly 29% of the entire market on its own (InsuranceXpert analysis). Large pickups were the second-biggest segment at about 314,000 units. The fastest-growing 2025 segments were small vans (+39.6%) and small pickups (+33.3%); the weakest was luxury cars (−46.7%, dragged down by a collapse in Tesla Model 3 sales). This shift toward heavier, more expensive vehicles is one reason repair and replacement costs — and car insurance premiums — keep climbing.
What are the best-selling cars in Canada?
The Ford F-Series was Canada’s best-selling vehicle for the 15th straight year, at 138,470 units in 2025. It has been the country’s top-selling pickup for 60 years running. Behind it, SUVs dominate the list.
| Rank | Model | 2025 units | 2024 units |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford F-Series | 138,470 | 133,857 |
| 2 | Toyota RAV4 | 75,573 | 77,556 |
| 3 | GMC Sierra | 59,962 | 59,912 |
| 4 | Honda CR-V | 55,987 | 55,363 |
| 5 | Chevrolet Silverado | 54,068 | — |
| 6 | Ram 1500/HD | 42,759 | 56,992 |
| 7 | Hyundai Tucson | 41,840 | — |
Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants / The Car Guide.
Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants / The Car Guide
Which car brands sell the most in Canada?
General Motors was the top-selling automaker group in 2025 for the third straight year, at 299,813 vehicles (about 15.5% of the market). Ford Motor Company was second at 293,897 (+5.5%), and Toyota third at an all-time-high 249,445.
| Automaker group | 2025 units | Share |
|---|---|---|
| General Motors | 299,813 | 15.5% |
| Ford Motor Co. | 293,897 | ~15.2% |
| Toyota | 249,445 | ~12.9% |
Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
Together, the top three automaker groups accounted for roughly 44% of every new vehicle sold in Canada in 2025 (InsuranceXpert analysis) — a concentrated market where scale in pickups and SUVs is what wins. 2025 was a record year for several: Toyota hit an all-time Canadian high (249,445), and GMC and Cadillac both posted their best-ever results here. That concentration at the top reflects how thoroughly trucks and SUVs — the segments these makers dominate — now define Canadian demand, and it’s the same handful of high-volume pickups and crossovers that shape everything downstream, from parts availability to repair costs and insurance premiums.
What share of new cars in Canada are electric?
Zero-emission vehicles were about 8.7% of new sales in 2025 — down from roughly 14.6% in 2024. The EV market took a sharp step backward after a record year.
| Year | ZEV share of new vehicles |
|---|---|
| 2019 | ~2.9% |
| 2021 | ~5.2% |
| 2023 | ~11.0% |
| 2024 | ~14.6% (one in seven) |
| 2025 | ~8.7% |
Source: Statistics Canada / Canada Energy Regulator. See methodology on the sales-vs-registrations basis.
The drop was policy-driven. The federal iZEV rebate ($5,000) was paused/exhausted in January 2025 and Quebec cut its provincial incentive, and a late-2024 rush to buy before the rebates ended inflated 2024 and depressed 2025. It wasn’t a total collapse: ZEV share rebounded to 11.2% by the fourth quarter of 2025, and a new federal EV Affordability Program launched in February 2026. Adoption remains wildly uneven by province:
| Province | ZEV share of new registrations, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Quebec | 30.9% |
| British Columbia | 20.9% |
| Ontario | 8.1% |
Source: Statistics Canada. Quebec alone accounted for about 54% of all new ZEV registrations in Canada.
Within the electric mix, battery-electric vehicles outsell plug-in hybrids about two to one: in the fourth quarter of 2025, BEVs were 7.4% of new registrations (30,464 units) versus 3.8% for plug-in hybrids (15,706 units). Canadians registered more than 170,000 zero-emission vehicles in total in 2025 — fewer than the year before, but the Q4 rebound to 11.2% suggests the collapse was a rebate air-pocket rather than a permanent retreat. One outlier drove the luxury-car segment down 46.7% on the year: a steep fall in Tesla Model 3 sales.
How much does a new car cost in Canada?
The average new-vehicle price was $63,439 in late 2025 — down 2.7% from a year earlier, the first real drop after a steep run-up. New-vehicle prices had climbed about 31% between 2019 and 2024 (AutoTrader Price Index) before finally easing. Used vehicles went the other way, rising 2.0% to an average of about $35,201.
Affordability is increasingly stretched through financing rather than price:
| Financing metric | Latest | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Average new-vehicle loan payment | $806 / month (Mar 2026) | — |
| New loans of 84+ months | 12.8% | 7.3% |
| New loans of 72 months | 40.5% | 36.4% |
| Used trade-ins in negative equity | 26% (2025) | — |
Sources: J.D. Power Canada; AutoTrader.
The share of new-car loans stretching to seven years or longer has grown sharply — 84-month terms nearly doubled since 2019 (InsuranceXpert analysis) — a sign buyers are managing record prices by spreading payments thinner and longer. The strain shows up on trade-ins too: 26% of used-vehicle trade-ins in 2025 carried negative equity (the owner owed more than the car was worth), up from 24% a year earlier. Longer loans and pricier vehicles are a big part of why insuring, financing and replacing a car all cost more than they did five years ago.
Used vehicles are a market of their own. Retail used-vehicle supply ran around 1.57 million units in 2025 (down about 3%), and the average used price ended the year near $35,201. Because vehicles change hands several times over their life, total used-vehicle transactions run well above new-vehicle sales — a reminder that “car sales” headlines only capture the new-vehicle slice of what Canadians actually buy.
Which provinces buy the most cars?
Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia account for about three-quarters of Canada’s new-vehicle market. On a registrations basis, 2024 broke down as:
| Province | 2024 new registrations |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 699,289 |
| Quebec | 477,761 |
| British Columbia | 219,177 |
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 20-10-0021-01. Alberta’s figure is withheld by StatCan under data-sharing limits, so we don’t estimate it. National total: 1,852,738 registrations (+8.0%).
What is the forecast for car sales in Canada?
Analysts expect a slight dip in 2026 — around 1.84 million vehicles — before growth resumes. Scotiabank’s Global Auto Report puts 2026 near 1.84 million as tariff uncertainty and softening demand bite, after roughly 1.90 million in 2025.
The wildcard is tariffs. Cross-border trade tension pulled some 2025 purchases forward — the annualized selling rate spiked to nearly 2 million in May 2025 as buyers moved ahead of expected price increases — and that borrowing from the future is part of why 2026 is expected to soften. If tariffs raise vehicle prices, they would add to an affordability problem that’s already stretching loan terms to record lengths.
The bigger forecast question is EVs. The federal ZEV sales mandate had targeted 20% of sales in 2026, rising to 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2035 — but in February 2026 the government announced it will repeal the mandate, replacing it with an aspirational 75% EV-adoption target by 2035 plus tighter emissions standards and new rebates. The C.D. Howe Institute had already judged the 2026 target unreachable: on 1.9 million sales it implied about 380,000 ZEVs, versus roughly 270,000 the market was on track to deliver — a reminder that policy targets and market reality can diverge sharply.
Why do car-sales figures disagree?
Different sources give different numbers, for reasons worth understanding before trusting any single figure:
- Sales vs registrations. DesRosiers counts manufacturer sales; Statistics Canada counts registrations. For 2024 that’s 1.86 million (DesRosiers) versus 1.853 million (StatCan) — different metrics, not an error. We use the DesRosiers sales series and say so.
- The 2023 restatement. DesRosiers reconciled 2023 upward from about 1.66 million to 1.72 million, which is why 2024’s “+8.2%” is measured off 1.72 million. A minority source uses a different reconciliation (1.83 million for 2024).
- EV share, sales vs registrations basis. 2024 EV share reads as 14% (energy-regulator sales basis), 14.6% (registrations) or “one in seven” (rounded); 2025 as 8.7% or 9.5%. The rebate-driven pull-forward into late 2024 is why 2024 looks inflated and 2025 depressed — not an organic collapse.
- “Used supply” isn’t “used sales.” Retail used-vehicle supply figures (about 1.57 million in 2025) are not the same as total used-vehicle transactions, which run well above new-vehicle sales.
Related statistics
- Car ownership statistics in Canada
- Car accident statistics in Canada
- Car insurance statistics in Canada
- Biggest car insurance companies in Canada
Using these statistics
You’re welcome to cite these figures in articles, research or presentations. Please reference the original source (DesRosiers, Statistics Canada, Canada Energy Regulator, Scotiabank or AutoTrader as noted); figures labelled “InsuranceXpert analysis” are our own calculations, and a link back to this page is appreciated.
Frequently asked questions
How many cars are sold in Canada each year?
About 1.90 million new light vehicles were sold in Canada in 2025, up roughly 2% and the most since 2019 (DesRosiers Automotive Consultants). That's still below the all-time record of 2.04 million set in 2017. Sales bottomed at 1.49 million in 2022 during the supply-chain crunch and have recovered since.
What is the best-selling vehicle in Canada?
The Ford F-Series pickup — 138,470 units in 2025, Canada's best-selling vehicle for the 15th straight year and the top-selling pickup for 60 years. The Toyota RAV4 (75,573) is the best-selling SUV, and among the automaker groups, General Motors led with 299,813 units (about 15.5% of the market).
What percentage of new cars in Canada are electric?
Zero-emission vehicles were about 8.7% of new sales in 2025 (Canada Energy Regulator), down sharply from roughly 14.6% in 2024 after the federal rebate lapsed. Adoption is very uneven by province: Quebec ran at 30.9% and British Columbia 20.9% in 2024, versus just 8.1% in Ontario.
Are car sales in Canada rising or falling?
Rising modestly. After crashing to 1.49 million in 2022, sales recovered to about 1.72 million in 2023, 1.86 million in 2024 and 1.90 million in 2025. But the recovery is slowing — early 2026 sales were down 4.4% year over year, and Scotiabank forecasts about 1.84 million for 2026 as tariff-related uncertainty weighs on the market.
Do Canadians buy more trucks or cars?
Overwhelmingly trucks and SUVs — 87.6% of 2025 sales were light trucks, SUVs, crossovers or vans, a record high. Traditional passenger cars fell to a record-low 13.4% of sales in 2024 and about 12% in 2025. The compact-SUV segment is now the single biggest, at more than 553,000 units a year.
How much does a new car cost in Canada?
The average new-vehicle transaction price was $63,439 in late 2025 (AutoTrader) — down 2.7% year over year, the first meaningful drop after prices rose about 31% between 2019 and 2024. The average new-vehicle loan payment reached $806 a month by early 2026, and 12.8% of new-car loans now stretch to 84 months or longer — up from 7.3% in 2019.
Sources
- DesRosiers Automotive Consultants — Canadian vehicle sales
- Canadian Auto Dealer — 2024 auto sales recap (DesRosiers data)
- Statistics Canada — New motor vehicle registrations (one in seven ZEV, 2024)
- Canada Energy Regulator — Canadian EV sales ride a roller coaster in 2024 and 2025
- Scotiabank — Global Auto Report (Dec 2025)
- AutoTrader — Canadian Price Index (Q4 2025)