Short version: you can't order the cheaper Tesla Model 3 in Canada right now. Tesla says orders for the China-built Premium trims reopen in March 2027. Only the Performance is still orderable. If a lower-cost Model 3 was your plan for this winter, your choices are wait, pay more, or look at a hybrid.
Tesla stopped taking Canadian orders for the Shanghai-built Model 3 Premium, in rear-wheel and all-wheel drive, on October 12. It says orders reopen in March 2027 when Canada's next quota period starts. The Model 3 Performance can still be ordered. Canada's own tracker showed 33,069 of the 49,000 China-made EV permits still available as of October 9, but it counts vehicles that have arrived, not permits already handed out. Electrek
Two stories that don't quite match
Tesla says it's out of quota. The public tracker says two thirds of the quota is unused. Both can be true. Ottawa can set permits aside for specific makers, and the tracker only counts cars that have landed. Tesla may simply have used up its own share.
For a buyer, the reason doesn't change much. The cheapest way into a Tesla sedan is closed until spring.
There's a second number worth knowing. A survey for Clean Energy Canada found 48% of respondents likely to buy an EV next, and 42% of that group said they'd rather wait for more Chinese EVs. Electrek So some EV shoppers were already sitting on their hands. Now one of the best-known EVs is off the order sheet too.
What I hear on the floor: most people who say "EV" really mean "I want to spend less on gas." A hybrid does a lot of that without a charger. The Civic Hybrid is rated at 4.9 L/100 km combined on honda.ca.
My predictions
My prediction: Tesla will reopen Canadian orders for a Model 3 Premium trim by March 31, 2027, because it tied the pause to the quota year and has said March. I'm wrong if no Model 3 Premium can be ordered on Tesla's Canadian site on April 1, 2027.
My prediction: When the Model 3 Premium comes back in Canada, its starting price will be higher than it was before the pause, because a new quota year is a natural point to reprice and a winter of pent-up orders gives Tesla room to do it. I'm wrong if the first Canadian Premium price after reopening is the same or lower.
If you're buying right now: don't plan around an order book that's closed until spring. If the real goal is a lower fuel bill, my Tesla vs Honda comparison for Vaughan buyers lays out the EV-or-hybrid trade-offs, and the CR-V Hybrid vs gas savings breakdown shows what a hybrid saves without a charger.
Quick answers
Can you still order a Tesla Model 3 in Canada?
Not the cheaper Model 3 Premium. Tesla stopped taking Canadian orders for the China-built Model 3 Premium, rear-wheel and all-wheel drive, on October 12, 2026, and says orders reopen in March 2027. The Model 3 Performance can still be ordered.
Why did Tesla stop Model 3 orders in Canada?
Tesla says its import quota for China-built cars is used up. Canada lets in up to 49,000 China-made EVs a year at the regular tariff. The government's tracker showed 33,069 of those permits still available as of October 9, 2026, but it counts cars that have arrived, not permits already issued.
Are Canadians waiting for Chinese EVs?
Some are. In a survey for Clean Energy Canada reported in October 2026, 48% of respondents said they were likely to buy an EV next, and 42% of that group said they want to wait for more Chinese EVs to arrive.
EV or hybrid this winter?
Tell me how far you drive and where you park at night. I'll show you what a Honda hybrid costs to run against the EV you had in mind.
Henry Chen · Sales Consultant, Maple Honda
89 Auto Vaughan Dr, Maple, ON L6A 4A1
647-523-6878 · henry@maplehonda.com