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.
Electric vehicle (EV) adoption is growing rapidly across Canada, but the infrastructure needed to support widespread scale isn’t keeping pace. Most EV charging happens at home, yet 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 Canadians will be left behind in the transition to electric transportation.
The missing piece in Canada’s EV strategy
Transportation is Canada’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, making vehicle electrification a critical pathway to reducing emissions. To support this transition, the federal government has invested in initiatives like Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) to accelerate charger deployment. However, ZEVIP funding can’t be used for the electrical upgrades and construction work landlords and condo boards need before they can install chargers throughout a building.
Charging access remains one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption. Natural Resources Canada has documented the technical, financial, and administrative obstacles that make home-charging difficult in multi-family buildings. One recent study found dwelling type to be among the strongest predictors of EV uptake, with condo-heavy areas lagging well behind single-family neighborhoods. Since apartment and condo residents represent a significant share of potential EV buyers, closing the gap is essential to meeting Canada’s targets.
Investing in EV ready buildings is also a matter of equity. Lower-income, racialized, and other equity-deserving groups are more likely to rent than own, often living in multi-family where electrical systems may not support EV charging and nearby infrastructure is scarce. For example, the City of Toronto has found that EV ownership is concentrated in higher income, homeowner neighborhoods, and that nearly 40% of public chargers are clustered in two downtown wards, far from where many lower income residents live. Expanding EV ready infrastructure in apartments and condos can help ensure that more Canadians have access to affordable home charging and electric vehicle’s long term savings.
Home charging is the most convenient and affordable way to charge an EV, but providing it in condos and apartments can be complex and costly, especially when done one unit at a time. Installing a Level 2 charger in a multi-family building typically requires upgrading electrical panels, transformers, circuit-brakers, and load-management systems; costs that add up quickly in older buildings. As a result, landlords and condo corporations often install a handful of chargers as demand emerges, rather than undertaking comprehensive upgrades that prepare buildings for EV adoption at scale.
Future-proofing buildings
A more strategic approach is comprehensive EV readiness: upgrading a building’s electrical system to support future charging availability in all parking spaces, rather than responding unit by unit as demand arises. This includes electrical capacity improvements, load management systems and conduit installation, and other foundational investments that allow chargers to be added quickly and affordably later. It requires more upfront investment, but avoids repeated construction, disruption, and expense of staged upgrades, and ensures buildings are prepared as more residents switch to EVs, rather than perpetually catching up.
A targeted investment in EV ready buildings would modernize housing, strengthen the electrical system, lower long-term costs, and ensure the transition to electric transportation works for all Canadians. According to Pembina, property owners who make their buildings EV ready upfront save two to six times more than those who pursue incremental retrofits, since one coordinated project avoids the inefficiencies and repeated costs of upgrading in stages. Similarly, analysis for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities modeled the lifetime cost of retrofitting existing multifamily buildings for EV charging, and found that piecemeal, one-charger-at-a-time installations cost building owners roughly $6,290 per parking stall, compared to about $4,240 per stall for a comprehensive EV ready upgrade.
The benefits extend past emissions. Modernizing this infrastructure supports fuel-switching away from imported fossil fuels, improving energy security while creating green jobs. Expanding EV adoption can also deliver significant public health benefits. A 2026 McGill University study found that a shift to cleaner transportation could prevent more than 3,600 premature deaths in Toronto and Montreal by 2040 by cutting harmful air pollution from vehicle exhaust.
Unlocking home charging for millions of Canadians
Canada already has real-world examples of what a whole-building approach can look like. In British Columbia, the Clean BC Go Electric Program offers rebates covering the full EV readiness process for multi-unit residential buildings, including planning, electrical infrastructure upgrades, and charger installation. TAF has also launched an EV ready pilot in the GTHA, equipping parking spaces in multi-family buildings with the infrastructure needed for future EV chargers and expanding access to charging stations for residents. Together, these programs show that a whole-building approach is achievable and offers a blueprint for scaling EV ready multi-family housing nationally.
Through the Government of Canada’s 2026 Pre-Budget Consultation, TAF has recommended that the federal government invest $180 million over three years to electrify and futureproof existing multi-family buildings. Investing in EV ready apartment and condo buildings would remove a real barrier to EV ownership while boosting affordability, competitiveness, and energy system efficiency. Electrification must work for everyone, including the millions who live in multi-family housing.
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