The Quebec government has published the toughest proposed electric vehicle sales mandate in Canada, a draft regulation that would ban the sale of light-duty internal combustion and plug-in hybrid vehicles beginning in 2035.

The draft regulation, first announced in 2020 and published last week in the Gazette Officielle du Québec, “would make the Quebec 2035 ban stricter than either the current federal 2035 zero-emission vehicle standard or B.C.’s 2035 provincial mandate, both of which will allow continued sales of PHEVs beyond 2035,” Electric Autonomy Canada reports. The provincial published the draft rule at a moment when “some are questioning the strength of EV demand and with the looming prospect of federal elections in both the U.S. and Canada.”

The announcement “sends a clear message that whatever happens with whatever regulation in the U.S. or the rest of Canada, the government of Quebec is still dedicated to making sure that we switch to electric vehicles by 2035,” Electric Mobility Canada President and CEO Daniel Breton told Electric Autonomy. “To me, that’s the most important message.”

The rule would still allow resale and import of combustion vehicles from the 2034 model year or older.