FSD Became Subscription-Only in Canada in February 2026
The referral benefit did not change on 14 February. Its meaning did — three free months became a trial of a recurring bill.
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On 14 February 2026 Tesla removed the one-time Full Self-Driving purchase across North America, leaving a monthly subscription. Canada's referral benefit — three months of FSD (Supervised) — was unaffected in form and transformed in meaning.
The change in one line
Three free months stopped being a sample of something purchasable and became a free trial of a recurring bill. The default at the end is no longer neutral: doing nothing starts a charge.
What that adds to the buyer's job
One diary entry. Write the trial's end date down on the day it starts, and manage it in the dedicated Self-Driving app that shipped on AI4 cars in spring 2026, or the equivalent subscription screens on older interfaces.
How to value the benefit now
Multiply the rate your own account is quoted by three. This desk publishes the method rather than a figure because the rate varies by tier — Tesla cut the subscription in late January 2026 for owners who had previously purchased Enhanced Autopilot, which halves the trial's value for that group.
The structural consequence
FSD stopped being ownable on a new North American car. It follows the account and the billing relationship rather than the vehicle, so a referral trial adds nothing to a car's resale proposition and does not travel to a subsequent owner.
What it does not touch
EVAP. A trial is not a price reduction, so it does not move the final transaction value the $50,000 ceiling is measured against. The rebate question and the referral question remain independent.
Why subscription-only changes the referral maths
When FSD could be bought outright, a three-month trial was a sample of something with a fixed purchase price attached. Now it is three months of a recurring charge, and the value of the referral is exactly what three months of that subscription would have cost — no more, and not a fraction of a large one-time price. That is a cleaner number to reason about, and it is the reason this desk stopped quoting older valuations for the Canadian trial.
What a Canadian buyer should check on delivery day
Two screens, five minutes. The order summary you agreed to, confirming the benefit line was there — that is the document behind any later support conversation. And the car's own software screen, confirming FSD (Supervised) is active and showing what the subscription renews at. The second screen is where the diary entry comes from, and it is also the only place the rate that applies to your account is quoted.
The European contrast, for readers who see both
Europe and the UK lost the one-time purchase on 22 May 2026 and kept charging-distance referral rewards rather than trials, because approval rather than pricing is the gate there. A Canadian reader encountering a European referral page will find a reward denominated in kilometres — which is that market's answer, not Canada's.
what the three-month trial is really worth
Sources
Every figure in this dispatch traces to one of these. Programs and prices move — check the primary source before you order.