Canada's proposed federal budget includes more than $4 billion in funding for electricity infrastructure and grid modernization, including support aimed at more than 55,000 new EV chargers, Electrek reported.
The budget set aside $4 billion Canadian for grid improvements, with a roughly $635 million carve-out specifically for EV charging infrastructure. Of that, $587 million would renew the Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, or ZEVIP, which funds the development of new public EV charging stations.
"The charging industry is really encouraged by the multi-year investment in the budget," Travis Allan, president and CEO of the Canadian Charging Infrastructure Council, told Electric Autonomy, as cited by Electrek. "We'll be looking to make sure that we have great programs in place to deal with the barriers faced by people living in condos and apartments, public fast charging, which needs to cover major corridors and metropolitan areas, and then also charging for fleets and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which make up a major share of transportation emissions."
A 10-year grid envelope, and how ZEVIP pays
The rest of the $4 billion will be spent on electricity infrastructure expansion over the next 10 years, starting in 2027 and running through 2036, Electrek reported. Nearly 60 percent of Canada's electrical generation already comes from renewable hydro and wind power, the report said. The broader package includes carve-outs for the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program, new data and modeling efforts to guide grid planning, and $1.6 billion to modernize power systems in northern and remote communities.
ZEVIP would help charge-point operators by covering up to 50 percent of eligible project expenses for most projects, and up to 75 percent of projects led by Indigenous developers, with caps of up to $2 million per project. That is the practical lever in the charging slice: a public contribution toward stations, not a promise that 55,000 plugs will appear on a particular date. The 55,000 figure is the scale Electrek attributed to the funding package.
The report is about a proposed budget, not a finished build-out. Operators would still have to apply, match funds and put hardware in the ground, including on corridors that today have few alternatives if a single fast-charge site goes down. The charging industry's to-do list, in Allan's account, runs from access for people in condos and apartments, to public fast charging on major corridors and in cities, to plugs for fleets and heavier vehicles. The numbers to watch, as published, are the $4 billion grid envelope, the roughly $635 million charging carve-out, the $587 million ZEVIP renewal, the 50-to-75 percent cost share, and the 2027-to-2036 spending window.