Aiming for 12,500 additional electric vehicles on the province’s roads by 2017, the plans include extending the $8,000 (£4,800) rebate against battery-electric models and $500 (£298) rebate against hybrids until the end of 2016, supported by 5,000 new charging points across the entire province.

By the 31 March 2017, the government aims to have 2,000 electric vehicles on its own fleet, including all cars belonging to officials. It will also have installed 1,000 charging points near government buildings, which will be available to state employees and others.

Montreal will gain a fleet of green taxis and electric trolleybuses, and the investment will also fund a $35m (£21m) new Institute of Electrical Transport to promote research and development of new technolgoies in the region.

The Premier of Quebec, Pauline Marois, explained: ‘We want to contribute to Québec's economic development by focusing on this sector of the future to create jobs. With this exciting project, we can enrich us all by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve our ambitious targets for 2020. More importantly, it brings us closer to energy independence.’