A member of Windsor city council believes a report recommending all new multi-unit buildings have EV parking spots is a 'strong recommendation' that councils across Canada should be considering.
Ward 9 Councillor Kieran McKenzie was reacting to a report by Clean Energy Canada that says provincial and federal building codes should be updated to require multi-unit apartment buildings to have parking spots fit for electric vehicle charging.
McKenzie says as a member of the planning committee, they regularly ask developers if EV charging capacity will be included in the development they're proposing.
"Often times, and almost inverably, the response is generally positive," he says. "One way or another either the capcity will be there or they are proceeding with having charging stations on the property itself."
The report says installing an EV charger in a new build is about three to four times cheaper than upgrading an existing building.
The think tank based at Simon Fraser University says more than one-third of EV owners who live in multi-unit buildings don't have access to home charging, compared to just two per cent of those who live in single family homes.
McKenzie agrees that it's easier to install and implement electric vehicle charging capacity while construction is taking place.
"Once you have all of the infrastructure in place, the parking lot, the buildings built and all of the other ammenities are constructed, it's harder to bring that type of capacity in because you're tearing things apart that you would have just recently constructured," he says.
In April 2024, McKenzie asked city administration for a report on how many public and private EV charging stations there are in Windsor to get a picture of the charging landscape in the city.
He believes when that report comes before council at a future date, there will be a broader discussion around ways to improve EV charging access points, whether through incentives or legislation.
McKenzie says how to provide EV charging capacity is extremely important, especially in Windsor as it's the epic centre of electric vehicle battery manufacturing.
"Charging capacity is absolutley critical and to make sure that's abundently available across our community is really the objective of a lot of the questions I'm asking in this respect and looking at in terms of the private residential development space is an important part of the conversation," he says.
The Clean Energy Canada report says Quebec is the only province that requires homes to be EV-ready, but several cities such as Toronto and Vancouver have brought in their own mandates.
Some provinces, such as Nova Scotia, offer rebates to help cover the cost of chargers in existing or new buildings.
With files from the Canadian Press