Alberta has lower percentage of EV ownership than national rate

Alberta households rank in the lower tier when it comes to electric vehicle ownership in Canada, according to the most recently available data from Statistics Canada.

In 2021, three per cent of households in the province owned an electric or hybrid vehicle, compared to the national average of five per cent. 

The data, collected through the biannual Households and the Environment Survey, shows 94 per cent of Alberta households still favour gas or diesel powered vehicles. Nationally, just under 89 per cent of households have a vehicle with a combustion engine. 

This was the first year the survey has collected data on EV and hybrid ownership, said Gordon Dewis, a data analyst with the environment accounts and statistics division. He said EV technology is still relatively new, so seeing lower numbers in Alberta isn't surprising.

"In the early days of new technology being adopted, it's not unusual to see very low numbers," Dewis said. "Because it's just one cycle, you can't really draw any conclusions from that."

Motorized vehicle registration data from March shows electric and hybrid vehicles are on the rise in Alberta. Around 14,000 EVs were registered in 2024, up from just over 9,300 the year before. 

Hybrid vehicles especially are seeing a surge, said Rajko Pavic, manager and EV expert with GoElectric Vehicle Corporation. 

"Right now, the growth category that's the biggest is hybrids, and that's the people that used to be buying gas cars," Pavic said. 

Pavic adds that within the last four years, they've seen a 58 per cent growth in EV sales. While that growth is a positive sign, he said Alberta is still farther behind provinces like B.C. and Quebec.

"Growth numbers are pretty much the same between Alberta and B.C. and Quebec … but it's just you started with a lot higher numbers from B.C. and Quebec," Pavic said.

Last year, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault introduced the federal government's plan to phase out the sale of new passenger vehicles using internal combustion engines by 2035. 

Fewer households with EVs in Alberta puts a damper on that goal, said Sarah McBain, a senior analyst with the Pembina Institute.

"Those lower adoption numbers that we see in Alberta do make reaching those overall targets for Canada more challenging," she said. 

EV enthusiasm is higher in British Columbia and Quebec, with nine and six per cent, respectively, of households owning an EV or hybrid vehicle.