The 2026 Honda Civic: Canada's Best-Selling Car Still Offers a Manual, and Its Hybrid Uses Less Fuel in Traffic Than on the Highway — Rated 7/10

Canada gets nine Civics. The sedan comes in four trims — LX, Sport, Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid — and the hatchback in three, dropping the base LX. Above them sit the Si, a sedan, and the Type R, a hatchback. Every one is front-wheel drive; there is no all-wheel-drive Civic at any price.

Pricing opens at $28,440 for the sedan LX, which Honda Canada also quotes as a $31,423 selling price once $1,830 of freight and pre-delivery inspection and up to $1,153 in fees are added. Neither figure is net of incentives — Honda's own pricing data returns a discount of zero on every trim. The ladder runs to $32,300 for a Sport in either body, $34,200 and $37,700 for the sedan hybrids, $36,100 and $39,600 for the hatchbacks, $36,700 for the Si and $53,850 for the Type R. Metallic and pearl paints add $550.

Four powertrains cover that spread. The 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four in the LX and Sport makes 150 horsepower and 133 pound-feet through a continuously variable transmission. The hybrid pairs the same displacement with Honda's two-motor system for 200 horsepower and 232 pound-feet. The Si uses a 1.5-litre turbo, also 200 horsepower but with 192 pound-feet and a broader torque plateau. The Type R's 2.0-litre turbo produces 315 horsepower and 310 pound-feet.

The transmission story is the one enthusiasts should note. A six-speed manual is fitted to both the Si and the Type R — and on each of them it is the only transmission offered. There is no automatic Si and no automatic Type R in Canada. Everything else uses a CVT or, in the hybrids, an electronically controlled equivalent.

The hybrid's fuel figures contain a genuine curiosity. The sedan hybrid returns 4.7 litres per 100 kilometres in the city against 5.1 on the highway — better in traffic than at a steady cruise, which is the opposite of how a conventional engine behaves and a direct consequence of regenerative braking. The gasoline LX manages 6.6 combined. At the other end, the Si needs premium fuel and returns 8.3, the Type R 9.7.

Practicality is ordinary except where it is not. The sedan holds 419 litres of cargo, the hatchback 693.8 — a difference large enough to decide the purchase on its own. Seating is for five, except the Type R, which seats four.

Cabin equipment splits cleanly in two. The LX, Sport and Sport Hybrid get a seven-inch touchscreen with a seven-inch driver display and wired smartphone mirroring only. The Sport Touring Hybrid, Si and Type R step up to a nine-inch touchscreen, a 10.2-inch digital cluster, wireless mirroring, Google built-in and a twelve-speaker Bose system. Honda Sensing is standard on every trim.

One practical note for anyone shopping the flagship: Honda Canada flags the Type R as low inventory and does not list it in the Build and Price configurator at all, though it retains a published price.

The commercial record is first-party and unambiguous. Honda Canada reports the Civic finished 2025 as Canada's best-selling passenger car at 31,054 units — the 26th time in 28 years it has taken the title — and the car has been built at Alliston, Ontario since 1988, more than six million of them. One nuance worth catching: Honda's own Built in Canada filter lists the sedan and the Si, but not the hatchback.

A 7/10 from the Torbrook Rating Agency reflects a range with unusual breadth and a genuinely excellent hybrid, held back by seven-inch screens and wired-only smartphone mirroring on the trims most Canadians actually buy. The specifications above are Honda's; the score is ours.