Ottawa's EV charging money, tallied
- charging
Building a public charging network costs money, and in Canada a fair share of it has come from the federal government, through a few different programs. Here is a plain accounting of what has actually been committed, and what changed most recently.
What's been funded since 2016
Natural Resources Canada's own tally, published alongside its February 2026 Auto Strategy announcement, puts federal spending on EV charging and hydrogen refuelling at more than $1.2 billion since 2016:
| Program | Result |
|---|---|
| Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) | 30,000+ chargers installed (partial funding) |
| Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative | 1,088 chargers installed |
| Canada Infrastructure Bank Charging and Hydrogen Refuelling Initiative (CHRI) | up to 5,400 new fast chargers planned |
ZEVIP, the biggest contributor by chargers installed, is closed to new applications as of that page's last update, March 20, 2026 — so most of the current build-out now runs through the CIB's CHRI program instead.
The CIB's charging initiative just got bigger
CHRI launched with a minimum of $500 million earmarked for privately delivered, revenue-generating charging and hydrogen projects. In February 2026, the CIB increased that allocation by an additional $1 billion, taking the total to roughly $1.5 billion. CIB CEO Ehren Cory said more than $500 million had already gone to three companies — FLO, Parkland, and JOLT — enabling up to 5,400 new public fast chargers, according to the same NRCan announcement.
CIB's own project listings show two of those commitments in more detail: $235 million to FLO's EV charging network (under development) and $210 million to Parkland's EV charging network (under construction), both spanning multiple provinces.
To qualify for CHRI financing, a project must be delivered by the private sector, be revenue-generating, and total at least $20 million in eligible costs. Repayments then scale with how much the chargers actually get used, so the CIB's return rises or falls with real-world demand rather than being fixed up front.
What it means for drivers
None of this funds a vehicle purchase — that is the separate EVAP rebate. What it does mean is that several thousand more public fast chargers are contractually in the pipeline over the next few years, paid for through a mix of installation grants (ZEVIP) and bank financing (CIB). We will keep an eye on station counts as bulk charging-location data becomes available to compare against these commitments.