Velec eBikes in Canada: The Verified Brand Profile (2026)

If you are researching Velec, you are probably standing in a Canadian bike shop looking at a clean, upright city e-bike with a price of $1,699 to $3,399 on Velec.ca, wondering whether the 'Canadian' badge is real and whether the brand will still be there when something needs fixing. Those are the right questions, and most sellers will not answer the awkward halves of them. This profile does.

The short version, and the single most useful fact on this page: Velec is a genuinely Canadian company — founded in Quebec in 2005, still actively operating from a purpose-built Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville headquarters in 2026 — and its bikes are designed in Canada but manufactured in China, like most e-bikes sold in North America. This is a neutral, independent profile. Zeus eBikes does not sell Velec and has no stake in how you read it. Every factual claim below traces to a named source; where the public record is silent, we say so rather than guess.

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Is Velec a Canadian Company — and Is It Still in Business?

Yes on both counts, and this is where Velec separates itself from several brands in this directory. Velec is a genuinely Canadian company, founded in Quebec in 2005, and it is still actively operating in 2026 — not paused, not in receivership, not liquidated. That single fact governs the rest of this page: there is a real manufacturer behind the brand to honour a warranty and supply parts.

The story is well documented. According to Velec's own company pages and the trade publication eBikes International (Fall 2022), former corporate recruiter Michel Leblanc founded the company in 2005, starting out selling and repairing bikes himself from a Montreal warehouse. The company grew through the 2010s, entered the U.S. market in 2015, and in 2021–2022 opened a custom-built ~28,000-square-foot headquarters in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, about 30 km southeast of Montreal, that eBikes International reported cost around $6 million 'without provincial funding assistance.' Velec states it has sold over 100,000 e-bikes and works with roughly 300 dealers across North America.

The signal that matters most for a buyer: rather than showing distress, Velec marked its 20th anniversary in 2025 with a new lineup (the Evolution series). We found no insolvency, receivership, or bankruptcy filing for Velec Inc. in public records as of June 2026. For context on why corporate health is the first thing to check before buying any e-bike, see our legit eBike store checklist.

Where Are Velec Bikes Actually Made?

Velec bikes are designed in Canada and manufactured in China. The 'Canadian' part of the brand is real — the company, the design work, the headquarters and the after-sales network are all genuinely Canadian — but the bikes themselves are not built in Canada, and that distinction is worth understanding before you pay any premium tied to the word.

This is not our inference; it is on the record. The trade publication eBikes International reported plainly: 'All Velec e-bikes are proudly designed in Canada,' and, in the same article, 'Like most bicycles in the North American market, Velec's e-bikes are manufactured and assembled in China.' Velec's own About page is consistent with this, describing the company as 'actively working on one day manufacturing our batteries and bikes here in North America' — present-tense language that confirms production is not yet domestic.

None of this is a knock. The overwhelming majority of e-bikes sold in Canada — including many marketed as homegrown — are assembled in Asia, and Velec is unusually transparent about it. The honest framing is simply that 'designed in Canada' is accurate, 'made in Canada' would not be, and the genuine Canadian value here is the local company and dealer support, not the factory. If domestic assembly is a priority for you, our guide on what 'buy Canadian' really means for e-bikes unpacks the difference between a Canadian company and a Canadian-built bike.

The Warranty Reality: What's Covered, for How Long

Velec's warranty is tiered by component, and the headline numbers are easy to misread, so here is exactly what the company's own warranty page states. Mechanical (non-electrical) components are covered for 12 months; the propulsion/electrical system — which Velec groups as the motor, controller, wiring, charger and the battery — for 24 months; and the frame for 36 months — all from the date of purchase from an authorized Velec retailer.

Three conditions matter as much as the durations. First, the warranty runs through an authorized Velec dealer, and Velec's page notes that labour charges may apply if you bring a warranty claim to a dealer other than the one where you bought the bike — so where you buy affects how painless service will be. Second, normal wear and tear is excluded (the page gives a tire puncture as the example), which is standard but worth knowing. Third, on the battery specifically, Velec is candid that 'the useful life of a lithium battery with normal use is 3 to 5 years' — the 24-month warranty covers defects, not the natural capacity fade that every e-bike battery experiences.

Put plainly: the frame coverage (36 months) is competitive, the battery and motor coverage (24 months) is solid for the category, and the 12-month mechanical term is on the shorter side — meaning derailleurs, brake pads, cables, and other non-electrical wear parts become your cost after year one, even if they fail from a manufacturing defect rather than rider damage. Velec also runs a separate anti-theft and assistance programme (announced April 2023 via CNW): three years of theft replacement for bikes bought from authorized Canadian retailers since January 1, 2023 and registered, plus free roadside assistance within a 35 km radius. That is a genuine ownership perk, though it is a programme, not part of the defect warranty.

The Safety Record: Is There a Velec Recall?

No. There is no recall or battery-fire safety notice for Velec electric bikes in either the Health Canada or U.S. CPSC databases as of June 2026. On safety, the record is clean.

We checked this directly rather than relying on summaries. Health Canada's Recalls and Safety Alerts database (recalls-rappels.canada.ca) lists no Velec recall, and the U.S. CPSC (cpsc.gov) shows no Velec recall. In a market where lithium-battery fires have driven high-profile recalls and warnings, the absence of any Velec safety action across both regulator databases — confirmed in both Health Canada's recall database and the U.S. CPSC database as of June 2026 — is a meaningful positive on the record.

One careful distinction, because it is exactly the kind of thing that gets misreported: a clean record is a record of no recall found as of June 2026, not a permanent guarantee about every unit Velec has ever built. We state it as a verified absence. We also found no named, sourced report of a Velec e-bike fire. As with any e-bike, the single biggest safety variable in the owner's control is the charger and battery — use the supplied charger and follow the battery-care guidance, which Velec publishes alongside the warranty.

The Bikes, the Law, and Reputation

Velec's lineup is narrow and deliberate: nine or so urban and step-through e-bikes — the Citi 350 and Citi 500, the A2, the E3, and the R48 family (R48, R48i, R48+) — priced roughly $1,699 to $3,399 on Velec.ca as of June 2026, with the company citing a $2,000 to just-over-$4,000 range. These are comfort-first city bikes, not fat-tire or high-power machines, and that shapes both the law question and the reputation picture.

On legality, Velec sits comfortably inside Canadian rules. The motors are 350W or 500W rear-hub, and Velec's own FAQ states the bikes reach 'approximately 32 km/h, which is the maximum speed allowed by Canadian government regulations for electrically assisted bicycles.' Velec's motors (350W–500W) and top speed (~32 km/h) fall within the limits that most provincial e-bike frameworks use as a baseline — which means no Velec model is disqualified from road use by power or speed alone. Exact rules — including age, helmet, registration, and where you can ride — vary by province and municipality (per Velec's product pages, the R48+ and R48i add a thumb throttle alongside dual torque-and-cadence sensors, which is permitted in provinces such as Quebec on a compliant e-bike). Always confirm the rules where you ride with our Canadian e-bike laws guide.

On reputation, the honest answer is that the formal record is thin rather than glowing or damning. We located no Better Business Bureau profile for Velec Inc. as of June 2026 — an absence, not a mark against the brand. Independent coverage on ElectricBikeReview is neutral and publishes no overall brand score, and owner feedback on enthusiast forums is mixed-positive, with the bikes' weight the most common practical complaint — these are heavier urban e-bikes. That is a small, self-selected sample, so we report it without treating it as representative. The fairer read: Velec is a long-running brand with a clean safety record and an active dealer network, and the main trade-off buyers cite is heft, not reliability. If you are cross-shopping, our best e-bikes in Canada roundup and buying guide help you weigh a city e-bike against your actual route.

The Honest Ledger: Green Flags vs Red Flags

No brand is all one colour. Here is the picture the sourced facts above actually support — the genuine strengths alongside the things worth knowing before you buy.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Velec a Canadian company?

Yes. Velec Inc. is a genuinely Canadian company, founded in Quebec in 2005 by Michel Leblanc and headquartered in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, where it operates a custom-built facility that opened in 2021–2022. The company, its design work and its dealer network are all Canadian. The one nuance worth knowing is that the bikes themselves are designed in Canada but manufactured in China — so 'Canadian' accurately describes the company, not the place the bikes are built.

Where are Velec e-bikes made?

Velec e-bikes are designed in Canada and manufactured in China. This is on the record: the trade publication eBikes International reported that 'all Velec e-bikes are proudly designed in Canada' and, in the same article, that 'like most bicycles in the North American market, Velec's e-bikes are manufactured and assembled in China.' Velec's own About page describes the company as still 'working on one day manufacturing our batteries and bikes here in North America,' confirming production is not yet domestic. Overseas assembly is normal for the category; Velec is simply transparent about it.

Is there a Velec recall?

No. No recall or battery-fire safety notice for Velec electric bikes was found in either the Health Canada recall database (Recalls and Safety Alerts, recalls-rappels.canada.ca, which lists no Velec recall) or the U.S. CPSC database (cpsc.gov) as of June 2026. This is a verified absence as of that date — not a guarantee about every unit ever built — and we found no named, sourced report of a Velec e-bike fire.

What is the Velec warranty?

Per Velec's own warranty page, coverage is tiered: 12 months on mechanical (non-electrical) components, 24 months on the propulsion/electrical system — which Velec's page lists as including the motor, controller, wiring, charger and the battery — and 36 months on the frame, all from the date of purchase from an authorized Velec retailer. Normal wear and tear (such as a tire puncture) is excluded, and Velec notes that labour charges may apply if you bring a warranty claim to a dealer other than the one where you bought the bike. Velec also states that a lithium battery's useful life with normal use is 3 to 5 years, so the 24-month electrical coverage applies to defects, not natural capacity fade.

Are Velec e-bikes legal in Canada?

Yes. Velec's lineup uses 350W or 500W rear-hub motors, and the company's FAQ states the bikes reach 'approximately 32 km/h, which is the maximum speed allowed by Canadian government regulations for electrically assisted bicycles.' Velec's motors (350W–500W) and top speed (~32 km/h) fall within the limits that most provincial e-bike frameworks use as a baseline — which means no Velec model is disqualified from road use by power or speed alone. Exact rules — including age, helmet, registration, and where you can ride — vary by province and municipality. Always confirm the rules where you ride.

Are Velec e-bikes good — and what are the downsides?

Velec builds comfort-focused urban and step-through e-bikes (roughly $1,699–$3,399 on Velec.ca as of June 2026) from a long-running Canadian company with a clean safety record and a real dealer-and-warranty network — which gives everyday city riders a funded warranty network and a Canadian company to deal with. The honest trade-offs are that the bikes are built in China rather than Canada, the mechanical warranty is only 12 months, service runs through your authorized dealer, and the bikes are heavier urban e-bikes (their weight is the most common owner complaint on enthusiast forums — a small, self-selected sample). The independent reputation record is also thin — no BBB profile was located and independent reviewers publish no overall brand score — so cross-shop on the specific model and lean on a strong local dealer.

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The Bottom Line

Velec earns its 'Canadian e-bike' billing honestly — a Quebec company founded in 2005, still operating and launching new models in 2026, with a clean recall record across Health Canada and the CPSC and a genuine dealer-and-warranty network behind it. The fair caveats are about fit and framing, not soundness: the bikes are designed in Canada but manufactured in China, the mechanical warranty is a short 12 months, claims run through your authorized dealer, and the bikes are heavy. If you want a comfortable, road-legal, Canadian-backed city e-bike and you buy from a strong local dealer, Velec is a reasonable, low-drama choice. Velec is available through a network of roughly 300 authorized dealers across Canada — find one at velec.ca, which also lists current models and pricing. Whatever you decide, vet it the way you would any seller: read our legit eBike store checklist, confirm you are legal where you ride, and match the bike to your real use case with our eBike buying guide.

Related Zeus Guides

This Velec profile is part of the Zeus eBikes Canadian eBike directory — independent brand profiles for Canadian riders.

Researched and written by the Zeus eBikes Canada editorial team as part of an independent directory of eBike brands sold in Canada. Zeus eBikes does not sell Velec products and has no commercial relationship with the brand; research and sourcing follow the same neutral standards applied to every brand in this directory. Last verified: June 22, 2026.

Sources: Velec company pages (velec.ca — 'About Us': founding 2005, founder Michel Leblanc, Quebec origin, 'working on one day manufacturing... here in North America'); Velec e-bike Warranty page (12-month mechanical, 24-month propulsion/electrical incl. battery, 36-month frame; authorized-retailer condition; labour-charge clause; wear exclusion; 3–5-year battery-life note); Velec FAQ ('approximately 32 km/h, which is the maximum speed allowed by Canadian government regulations'); Velec product pages (R48+/R48i — 500W, 65 Nm, 48V/14Ah 672Wh, torque + cadence sensors, thumb throttle; Citi 350 — 350W); eBikes International, Fall 2022 ($6M / 28,000 sq ft Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville HQ, ~15 employees, ~300 dealers, 100,000+ sold, nine models, $2,000–$4,000+ range, 'designed in Canada,' 'manufactured and assembled in China'); Health Canada recall database (Recalls and Safety Alerts, recalls-rappels.canada.ca — no Velec recall on record); U.S. CPSC recall database (cpsc.gov — no Velec recall); CNW/Newswire (April 27, 2023 — Velec Anti-Theft + Assistance programme); ElectricBikeReview brand page (neutral coverage, no overall brand score). Recall findings are reported as a verified absence as of June 2026; sales, dealer-count, range and speed figures are attributed to Velec or the named trade publication as their claims; owner-weight feedback is from enthusiast forums and reported as a small, non-representative sample. Velec or any party named here is welcome to respond at milad@zeusebikes.ca.