Transportation accounts for over 20% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and the federal government remains focused on reducing this figure.
Canada is therefore investing more taxpayer capital toward expanding charging station infrastructure for electric vehicles throughout the country.
Specifically, more than $10 million has been earmarked through the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program for projects with Green Economy Canada and the New Brunswick Power Corporation to install more than 1,200 EV chargers in locations across Canada, including 950 Level 2 chargers and 40 fast chargers.
“We are driving the installation of electric vehicles chargers where Canadians live, work, and travel, and supporting Canadian innovation and research,” remarked Tim Hodgson, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
“It’s time to build more resilient supply chains and a cleaner, more secure, and more competitive economy,” the Minister said.
The EV stations will be situated at a diverse array of places, including workplaces, public spaces, and residential buildings throughout Alberta, New Brunswick, and Ontario, according to David Myles, who serves as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture.
“We are helping enable the transition to zero-emission vehicles with the installation of additional EV chargers across Canada,” commented Myles.
Lori Clark, chief executive officer of the New Brunswick Power Corporation, says the project is about helping Canadians “in their decision to reduce emissions by eliminating range anxiety, ensuring they can reliably get to where they are going and making their EV experience more convenient.”
“By significantly expanding our charging network, we are putting the customer experience at the centre of our clean energy transition, modernizing the utility,” Clark said.
The government recently shelved electric vehicle adoption requirements amid a clashing with reality; expanding infrastructure is a more logical horse-and-wagon scenario.
That’s because Canada boasts 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.
Since 2016, the federal government has allocated more than $1.2 billion in funding to support the deployment of charging stations in Canada.