Canada’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources this week unveiled more than $25 million in investments.
The investments into 33 projects across Canada aim to improve the availability of electric vehicle charging stations, as well as to help “decarbonize” freight transportation throughout the nation.
“We are taking bold steps to make Canada an energy superpower,” claims Tim Hodgson, who serves the country as minister of energy.
Natural Resources Canada contributed $10M to 23 projects that will install a combined 850 charging stations across the nation.
“With today’s announcement, we are accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles with the installation of more than 850 additional EV chargers across Canada,” remarked Parliamentary Secretary Claude Guay.
The government body also invested $8M through the Energy Innovation Program into six projects targeting energy innovation within the heavy duty vehicles sector, as well as another $8m through the Green Freight Program to help industrial firms enhance the fuel efficiency of their fleets.
“We are proving that clean transportation is not just for consumers, but also for commercial, industrial and municipal fleets that are transforming the economy across sectors while lowering our emissions,” stated Guay.
“Investments like this are how we build a cleaner, more secure and more competitive economy,” minister Hodgson added.
Much of the investments are earmarked for Quebec, he noted.
“Through these projects, we are delivering practical on-the-ground solutions for Quebecers with EVs and partnering with Quebec industry to drive the decarbonization of the transportation sector while strengthening our supply chains and energy independence,” he said.
Since 2016, the Government of Canada has allocated more than $1 billion in funding to support the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations across the country through the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program.
Currently, Canada boasts about 35,000 charging ports across 13,000 public stations, which is in line with its own goals but well behind the 700,000 figure that one 2024 report from Dunsky estimates the country will need by 2040 to meet Net Zero demands.
In other EV news, Vancouver’s Mangrove Lithium is innovating battery production technology while PowerCo Canada is plotting the nation’s largest-ever electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant.