People are discovering that when it comes to vehicles, there are more important things than being cool.
What happened: After languishing for years, minivan sales are booming again, with 42,377 minivans sold in Canada last year — a 34% jump from 2024, and the largest gain of any vehicle category.
Statistics Canada data shows new registrations of vans outpacing SUVs by around 15 times from 2024 to 2025, with growth concentrated in hybrid and fully electric vans.
Catch up: Minivans were created in the 1980s and became a ubiquitous vehicle for families thanks to their practicality before falling out of fashion in the early 2000s. While the humble minivan became associated with a certain ennui-laced suburban lifestyle (unfairly, if you ask us), consumers turned to the more rugged and sporty-looking SUV.
Why it’s happening: A number of factors are likely behind the minivan’s recent resurrection, like the surge in prices for large, three-row SUVs. The Toyota Highlander SUV, for example, is around $5,000 more than the automaker’s Sienna minivan, despite the latter’s larger capacity.
Minivans also typically get better fuel economy than SUVs, with many coming in hybrid or electric options.
Automakers have reported that minivans are becoming more popular among people without kids, as well, particularly gig economy workers using them to deliver online orders or lug construction materials.
Zoom out: There’s also a fair amount of ’90s nostalgia in the cultural air at the moment, something that could be pushing millennials — now reaching prime parenting age — to opt for the vans of their childhood.
Why it matters: More demand for minivans is good news for Canada’s auto sector, specifically Stellantis’ Windsor plant, which builds several minivan models and earlier this year hired 1,700 workers to bring back a third shift at the facility.
