Federal Leadership

Create a dedicated Privy Council Office to coordinate EV responsibilities across departments and advise the Prime Minister on progress being made towards achieving the government’s electrification goals. Centralized coordination and Prime Ministerial oversight will elevate the importance of this issue and ensure it receives the attention it deserves.

Unless both consumers and policy makers understand all the benefits, needs and savings associated with electric vehicles, the transition to an electric future will take longer than necessary. The government should make education a priority, working with leading organizations like Plug’n Drive, EV Society, AVÉQ, Plug in BC and others to establish experiential learning opportunities for elected officials and civil servants.

Establish cross-Canadian guidance for electricity regulators to speed up deployment of charging infrastructure.  

Establish an intergovernmental table to examine electrical system regulatory matters to expedite EV charging infrastructure installation and to support utilities Work through the Council of Canadian Energy Ministers to establish pan-Canadian guidance for electricity regulators to expedite deployment of charging infrastructure. Guidance could address electrical service size challenges for EV charging; demand charges and opt-in electricity rates for public charging; the need for EV charging station connection prioritization to keep infrastructure expanding in step with EV demand; and pre-building distribution and transmission capacity in locations where future charging installations are anticipated. Charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles as well as for light-duty vehicles should be included in the scope of work.  

Government can lead by example and further increase domestic EV demand and investment by using its own purchasing power. Starting now, every vehicle purchased by the government should be electric, unless an electric option does not yet exist to meet a specific need. Canada should also start electrifying its owned and leased parking lots immediately to offer charging options to its fleets and employees. Set a hard target of at least 10% of all owned and occupied parking spaces being electrified by no later than 2025.

The Government of Canada should work with the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa to establish a Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) in downtown Ottawa. ZEZs are areas in which polluting vehicles are required to pay a fee to enter, acting as a disincentive for gas-vehicle use within the zone, and encouraging forms of zero emission travel such as EVs, bicycles or electric public transit. Other cities and national capitals (e.g. London, UK) are implementing zero-emission zones too.

Lowest bidder public policies have hampered the transition to cleaner, sometimes more expensive technologies that can, in the end, be less expensive when total cost of ownership is considered. New “clean procurement” policies could help Federal departments, agencies and crown corporations, provincial governments, municipal governments, transit agencies, ferry agencies, school boards and other institutions to purchase zero emission vehicles of all types without conflicting with free trade agreements.