Tesla brings China built Model 3 to Canada as price falls below CAD 40,000 (€24,821)
Tesla has begun selling the Shanghai built Model 3 Premium RWD in Canada for CAD 39,490 (€24,821). It gives the company a new entry point in its Canadian line up, and it arrived after Ottawa opened a 2026 import quota for up to 49,000 China built electric cars at a 6.1 per cent tariff.
Tesla’s official Canadian support and model pages list the new 2026 Model 3 Premium at CAD 39,490 (€24,821), with 463 km of EPA range and a 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.2 seconds. Tesla does not highlight the car’s production site on its public Canadian pages, but Electrek and Canada’s The Car Guide both tie this version clearly to Giga Shanghai.
The price comparison still needs careful handling. On Tesla’s official US site, the Model 3 starts at USD 38,630 (€33,057) including destination and order fees, while the Model 3 Premium starts at USD 44,130 (€37,763). Electrek calculates the price of the new Canadian model at about USD 29,000 (€24,816). So the main point holds. A cheaper China sourced Tesla has arrived in Canada. The comparison, though, is not perfectly clean, because the Canadian and US configurations do not line up exactly.
Another important change sits inside Tesla’s Canadian range itself. According to The Car Guide, the previous Premium AWD configuration disappeared from the Canadian line up, with a much cheaper rear wheel drive version taking its place. In other words, the price cut does not come only from the Chinese supply chain. Tesla also changed where the Canadian base model sits.
A trade shift, not just a Tesla price cut
Canada’s official foreign and trade policy background paper says the 2026 arrangement allows up to 49,000 China built electric cars into the country each year at the most favoured nation tariff rate of 6.1 per cent. Ottawa estimates that this represents less than 3 per cent of Canada’s new car market, while also widening the supply of more affordable electric cars.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney told AP that the country has no plan to strike a free trade agreement with China, and that the recent deal concerns tariff reductions in only a few sectors.
So the headline is a Model 3 below CAD 40,000 (€25,141). The larger story is more political. Tesla’s Canadian pricing now shows how closely electric car affordability follows trade rules, not just battery costs or factory efficiency.
