Most EV drivers plug in at home — unless they live in an apartment. In buildings across the GTHA, residents run extension cords out basement windows, wait for the single shared charger to free up, or drive across the neighbourhood just to top up overnight. The EV transition is happening, but for millions of Canadians, home charging still isn’t an option.
About a third of Canadians live in apartments and condominiums where access to charging remains limited. In Toronto, multi-family buildings make up more than half of all dwellings, most never designed with EV charging in mind. Canada’s zero‑emission vehicle goals — and the emissions cuts they’re supposed to deliver — could fall short because the charging infrastructure isn’t keeping up.
Unless Canada invests in making multi-family buildings “EV ready,” a significant share of people in Canada will miss out on the benefits of electric transportation.
The gap in the federal EV strategy
Transportation is Canada’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The federal government created the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) to accelerate charger deployment. But ZEVIP funding can’t be used for the electrical upgrades and construction work that landlords and condo boards need before they can install chargers throughout a building. Natural Resources Canada has documented the obstacles: limited electrical capacity, transformer constraints, and the difficulty of allocating costs between unit owners.
The gap falls hardest on people who can least afford workarounds. Lower-income, racialized, and other equity-deserving groups are more likely to rent than own, and more likely to live in multi-family buildings. Those buildings often lack the electrical capacity for EV charging, and the neighbourhoods around them have fewer public chargers. The City of Toronto has found that EV ownership is concentrated in higher-income, homeowner neighbourhoods, and that nearly 40% of public chargers are clustered in two downtown wards, far from where many lower-income residents live.
The cost of upgrading one charger at a time
Home charging is the most convenient and affordable way to charge an EV, but providing it in condos and apartments is complex and expensive when done one unit at a time. Installing a Level 2 charger in a multi-family building means upgrading electrical panels, transformers, circuit breakers, and load-management systems. In older buildings, these costs add up quickly, so most landlords and condo corporations install a handful of chargers as demand emerges rather than preparing the building for broader adoption.
Upgrading electrical capacity, conduit, and load management across all parking spaces in a single project costs more upfront but avoids repeated construction and disruption. According to Pembina, property owners who upgrade upfront save two to six times more than those who pursue incremental retrofits. Analysis for Low Carbon Cities Canada found that piecemeal installations cost building owners roughly $8,000 per parking stall, compared to about $1,500 per stall for a comprehensive EV-ready upgrade.
EV adoption also reduces air pollution. A 2026 McGill University study found that cleaner transportation could prevent more than 3,600 premature deaths in Toronto and Montreal by 2040.
Building the case for federal investment
In British Columbia, the CleanBC Go Electric Program offers rebates covering the full EV readiness process for multi-unit residential buildings, from planning through electrical upgrades to charger installation. This program treats the building as the unit of investment, not the individual parking spot.
Through the Government of Canada’s 2026 Pre-Budget Consultation, TAF has recommended that the federal government invest $180 million over three years to make existing multi-family buildings EV ready. That investment covers the electrical upgrades, load management, and conduit that allow chargers to be added affordably as residents switch to EVs. Extension cords and workarounds won’t cut it for one third of Canadians. Without investment, the EV transition will pass them by.
Isabella,
I strongly endorse your cogent and timely article on the need for greater support for rental property owners and condo owners to facilitate a fuller shift to EVs.
Rather than directing this message solely at the federal government, though, let’s address all levels of government. Each has a significant responsibility to ensure equal access to convenient, affordable transportation, and each holds specific authorities that can and should be used so everyone shares in the benefits of transportation electrification.
Municipalities may have comparatively fewer financial resources, but they control many of the regulatory levers that need modernizing to enable the upgrades for which you are so effectively advocating.
Many thanks, Isabella. And, please, keep up the good work!
Robert