Thank you.
My name is Cherith Sinasac. I'm the director of government affairs at Electro-Federation Canada. EFC is a not-for-profit industry association representing the full electrical supply chain.
Canada needs a strong, long-term EV charging infrastructure strategy that invests in public charging infrastructure and charging for multi-unit residential buildings. This strategy must also go beyond deployment and ensure that residential chargers, vehicles and electrical grids all work together seamlessly.
First, let's discuss the need for public charging. Programs like the zero emission vehicle infrastructure program have helped build early momentum for public charging infrastructure, but the momentum must continue. Capitalizing ZEVIP to sustain private investment is essential. At the same time, expanding the clean technology investment tax credit to include on-road EV charging would unlock faster deployment of public and fleet infrastructure.
Second, we need to ensure that EV readiness is included in our building codes. Installing EV infrastructure during construction is three to four times more cost-effective than retrofitting later. For those living in multi-unit residential buildings, this is the biggest barrier.
The cost of retrofitting is preventing access to home charging. The federal government needs to act on two fronts. It needs to develop a national strategy, supported by targeted incentives, to retrofit multi-unit residential buildings and needs to stop the problem from getting worse by ensuring that all multi-unit residentials are constructed to be EV-ready.
Third, a national strategy must go beyond residential deployment targets. It must have consistent technical specifications to ensure that chargers, vehicles and the grid are all working together. EVs are seen as a source of electricity consumption, but I want you to rethink EVs as being national battery storage infrastructure. EVs and their battery storage have the potential to be a national energy asset for our grid.
A recent report by CSA Group called “Charging Ahead: Unlocking Vehicle-Grid Integration in Canada” outlines the scope of this opportunity. With vehicle-to-building communications, EV batteries can power critical equipment in your home during a blackout, which could include medical equipment. EVs could reduce strain on the grid or dependency during high-cost times of use, saving Canadians money. With vehicle-to-grid integration, EVs could reduce demand on the grid during peak times, or return power to the grid or to your home, reducing system reliance on costly peaker plants. At scale, even small contributions from millions of batteries and vehicles can stabilize the grid to help prevent an outage. However, without alignment, chargers may not communicate with vehicles, vehicles may not integrate with buildings or the grid, and residential EVs and charging investments risk becoming fragmented and, frankly, underutilized.
Canada needs dedicated resources to convene industry, utilities, regulators and provincial stakeholders to develop and detail a technical framework, specifications and the regulatory constructs to make vehicle-to-grid work at scale. This group needs to identify code amendments in the national energy code and national building code. Canada currently lacks a nationally coordinated forum for this work. This work is urgent. From a manufacturer's perspective, we need certainty, we need direction and then we need time.
To conclude, Canada needs a strong, long-term EV charging infrastructure strategy that invests in public charging infrastructure and access to charging in multi-unit residential buildings. A national EV strategy must ensure that chargers, vehicles and the electrical grid are working together seamlessly to unlock an integrated energy future that all Canadians will benefit from.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.