Prime Minister Trudeau has released ministerial mandate letters to each of his thirty-six Cabinet Ministers.

Mandate letters detail the key policy objectives of each Ministry. Trudeau is a national trendsetter when it comes to mandate letters. In 2015, Trudeau made the previously secret letters open to the public. Since then, nearly every province has followed suit.

The following is a snapshot of policy objectives included in the mandate letters that are relevant to the automotive industry.

Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry under Navdeep Bains

• Install up to 5,000 additional charging stations along the Trans-Canada Highway and other major road networks
• Track towards zero-emission vehicles targets of10% of light-duty vehicles sales per year by 2025, 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
• Expand the existing zero-emission vehicle incentive by providing a 10% rebate on a used zero-emission vehicle up to a maximum value of $2,000.
• Continue to support Canada’s traditionally strong industries including automotive, to increase productivity and innovation as Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy.

Ministry of Employment, Workforce Development & Disability Inclusion under Carla Qualtrough

• Create the Canadian Apprenticeship Service designed to help people get the job experience that they need to complete their training on time.
• Implement the new Canada Training Benefit (a government-funded bank account for Canadian workers to put towards skills training).
• Remove barriers to facilitate the mobility of labour across Canada.
• Support the national youth campaign to promote the skilled trades as first choice careers.

Small Business, Export Promotion & International Trade under Mary Ng

• Increase support for exporters.
• Review export support programs.

Ministry of Finance under Bill Morneau

• A 50% tax cut for companies that manufacture zero-emissions technology

Ministry of Environment and Climate Change under Jonathan Wilkinson

• Move Canada towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Progress towards eliminating plastic pollution, including developing national targets, regulations, and standards that will make companies that manufacture plastic products or that sell products with plastic packaging responsible for their collection and recycling.

Interested in digging deeper into the mandate letters? You can find all of them here:

EN: https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters

FR: https://pm.gc.ca/fr/lettres-de-mandat