Six Chinese automakers, BYD, Dongfeng, Chery, Geely Auto, XPeng and Geely-owned Lotus, are now working toward entering the Canadian market under a new quota system for Chinese-built electric vehicles that took effect in March 2026. Only Lotus has begun retail deliveries so far. The rest are moving through varying stages of Transport Canada certification, dealer recruitment or public testing, with Dongfeng the latest to go public, unveiling six models at Montreal's Grand Quai in July 2026.

The opening followed a January 16, 2026 meeting in Beijing between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which Ottawa agreed to replace a 100 percent surtax on Chinese-built EVs with the standard 6.1 percent most-favoured-nation rate, in exchange for China lowering tariffs on Canadian canola. The resulting quota allows 49,000 Chinese-built EVs into Canada annually, split into two permit windows of 24,500 units each, running from March 1 to August 31, 2026, and September 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027. It is set to grow 6.5 percent a year, reaching roughly 70,000 units by 2030, with the share reserved for vehicles priced at $35,000 or under starting at 10 percent in the quota's second year and rising to 50 percent by its fifth.

The cap represents less than three percent of Canada's roughly 1.8 million annual new-vehicle sales, according to Farid Ahmad, chief executive of Dealer Solutions Mergers & Acquisitions (DSMA), a consultancy brokering dealer talks for several Chinese brands. Chinese-built EVs remain ineligible for the federal Electric Vehicle Affordability Program's rebate of up to $5,000, since the program is restricted to vehicles built domestically or in free-trade partner countries. Provincial programs vary by jurisdiction: Quebec's Roulez vert offers up to $2,000 and is scheduled to run through December 31, 2026.

Lotus, owned by Geely Auto (HKG: 0175), moved first. Eighteen Eletre SUVs cleared customs in May 2026 after the company cut the model's Canadian price from $313,500 to $119,900, with a delivery event planned for Montreal. Chery's export-focused Omoda and Jaecoo sub-brands followed, with Jaecoo J5 EV and Omoda 9 units spotted undergoing benchmarking in Toronto parking lots in April and May 2026, their badging partly taped over. Dongfeng's Montreal event on July 14 and 15, 2026, showcasing the Voyah, M-Hero, eπ and Nammi sub-brands, was the first such prelaunch event by a Chinese automaker in Canada.

BYD (HKG: 1211) has the clearest regulatory head start. It is the only Chinese passenger-vehicle manufacturer to have registered its production facilities, in Shenzhen and Xi'an, with Transport Canada's Appendix G preclearance registry, covering the Seal, Dolphin, Atto 3 and Seagull. The company has hired DSMA to help secure roughly 20 dealership locations, starting in the Greater Toronto Area before expanding to Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary. Ahmad said manufacturers are also searching for sites on their own, beyond his consultancy's efforts. Estimates place BYD's eventual Canadian lineup from around $25,000 for the entry-level Seagull city car up to premium models such as the Han sedan, though BYD has not published official Canadian pricing.

Dongfeng's Canadian entry runs through North World Industry (NWI), a Quebec-based importer that has named the province its priority market. Director Julie Mazorra Fernández said the company is "working on pricing being below $35,000" for the Box and Vigo, the Canadian names for the Nammi 01 hatchback and Nammi 06 crossover, both still undergoing federal certification with a possible 2027 launch.

Chery has filed Canadian trademarks for the Omoda, Jaecoo, Exeed, iCar, Lepas and Luxeed names and has told DSMA it is preparing a consumer launch before the end of 2026, though it has not yet registered passenger-vehicle plants with Transport Canada. Geely Holding Group chief executive Andy An told Bloomberg in March 2026 that certification was expected "soon" for Geely Auto-branded vehicles, the group's mainstream nameplate, and the company has since posted senior sales, marketing and dealer-network roles in Toronto.

Those postings explicitly reference the Geely Auto brand rather than Zeekr, despite an earlier defensive trademark filing for the Zeekr name. XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) has taken a more cautious approach: chief executive He Xiaopeng said in July 2026 that the company is evaluating the feasibility of a Canadian launch after six months of talks with government officials and potential partners, and Canada's international trade minister met XPeng executives in Guangzhou in April 2026.

Facility registration alone does not authorize sales. Each model still needs its own Transport Canada compliance label, a process that can include winter crash testing, and Ontario and Quebec both restrict direct-to-consumer sales models, meaning provincial dealer licensing runs on a separate track from federal approval.

Tesla, whose Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y were already listed in Transport Canada's certification database before the deal, moved fastest, launching a $39,490 Shanghai-built Model 3 in Canada in May 2026. As of July 20, 2026, Tesla's imports accounted for the bulk of the 9,235 vehicles cleared under the first 24,500-unit permit window, according to Global Affairs Canada data. That leaves the Chinese-branded automakers still working through certification to compete for what remains of the quota once their own approvals clear.

Whether the 49,000-unit ceiling holds once BYD, Chery and Dongfeng are all shipping in volume alongside Tesla and Lotus, or whether the early movers have already claimed most of the room, is a question the next round of permit filings will start to answer.