Electric vehicle owners will pay $500 every two years, and hybrid vehicle owners will pay $250
Owners of fully electric and hybrid vehicles will have to pay a new levy when they renew the stickers on their licence plates.
Effective Oct. 1, 2026, owners of fully electric vehicles in Nova Scotia will have to pay $500 every two years, and hybrid vehicle owners will pay $250.
“I think the reason we introduced this is the recognition these vehicles do impact our highways, (but) they do not pay the motive vehicle tax that gasoline-type vehicle would,” Finance Minister John Lohr said of the fee.
“This is just a calculation of what tax would have been paid by (gasoline vehicle owners) toward the maintenance of our highways.”
The levy was announced in the provincial government’s austerity budget Monday.
The vehicle fee is anticipated to raise $1.6 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year and $3.3 million in 2027-28 when fully implemented.
Drivers in Nova Scotia pay about 48 cents per litre in combined federal and provincial taxes.
According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, those taxes are broken down like this:
- 10 cents to the federal excise tax
- Six cents to the federal portion of sales tax
- 5.5 cents in federal fuel standards taxes
- 10.8 cents in provincial sales tax
- 15.5 cents for provincial excise tax
Alberta and Saskatchewan already have electric vehicle levies, and Quebec is set to implement one this year.
The move to place a fee on electric vehicle owners comes as the federal government renews subsidies on their purchase. As of March 31, those buying fully electric or fuel cell-based vehicles priced under $50,000 qualify to receive a $5,000 rebate.
Those buying plug-in hybrids selling for under $50,000 will be eligible for a $2,500 rebate.