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Proposed EV Availability Standard Reductions Could Cut Fast-Charging Deployment by More than 62% and Reduce Investment by $500 Million, Warns Canadian Charging Infrastructure Council Report

Toronto, October 28, 2025 – In a forthcoming report to be presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, the Canadian Charging Infrastructure Council (CCIC) warns that proposed reductions to Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard (EVAS) could significantly slow public fast charging deployment, jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars in clean infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs across the country.

According to new CCIC analysis to be shared in its upcoming report “Policymaker Brief: Changes to Canada’s EV Availability Standard Impact Charging”, even a modest reduction to EVAS targets—from 60% to 40% of new car sales by 2030—is expected to result in a 38% drop in new public fast-charging stations deployed between now and 2030. A deeper reduction to 30% would trigger a 62% decline, eliminating roughly $500 million in direct investment and slowing grid modernization across Canada. The EVAS is a critical federal policy tool that ensures EVs are available to Canadian consumers, setting minimum sales requirements for key milestone years including 2030 and 2035. 

“A strong EVAS is essential to attract the capital, skilled labour, and supply chains needed to build Canada’s public charging network,” said Travis Allan, President of CCIC. “Weakening this policy risks cancelling projects planned and already under development and would slow the deployment of the infrastructure Canadians need to save money by driving electric.”

Public fast-charging has expanded rapidly in recent years, doubling since the start of 2023 to over 7,500 ports nationwide and growing by 25–30% annually since 2020. Based on current growth rate, the charging sector is on track to meet projected 2030 demand for 22,000–23,000 fast chargers, representing over $1.5 billion in new infrastructure investment.

However, CCIC notes that charging operators rely on predictable EV adoption to justify these large capital commitments. Because EVAS sets annual minimum sales targets, even minor reductions send destabilizing signals to investors and utilities. CCIC recently joined more than 40 Canadian CEOs urging Prime Minister Carney to keep the EVAS, reinstate EV purchasing incentives and accelerate charging infrastructure. They warned that weakening or eliminating the policy would risk undermining investor confidence, threaten the creation of good, highly-skilled, well-paying jobs and damage Canada’s global competitiveness in EV manufacturing, charging, and clean energy. 

“Canada’s charging industry has proven that it can deliver,” said Allan. “But policy certainty matters. Keeping ambitious EVAS targets through 2030 and 2035 will sustain investment, protect jobs, and ensure drivers can charge when and where they need to.”The CCIC urges federal policymakers to maintain ambitious 2030 and 2035 EVAS targets to preserve momentum in EV infrastructure, grid readiness, and Canada’s broader energy transition.

About CCIC
The Canadian Charging Infrastructure Council (CCIC)’s members represent over half the public EV charging sites in Canada. CCIC seeks to achieve a comprehensive and economically sustainable electric vehicle (EV) charging ecosystem and believes that this mission can be supported by providing governments and stakeholders with trustworthy, economically and technically sound advice and advocacy leveraging the expertise and experience of its members. CCIC is open to members that are involved in the EV charging industry including station owners, network and station operators from the public and private sectors, charging technology providers and suppliers, charging installers and maintainers and related infrastructure service providers and entities providing financing for charging station deployment and operation, including via credit transactions and project financing. 

CCIC media contact: ccic.ccir@gmail.com