A total of 500 Level 2 public chargers will be installed across 68 Indigo Park sites, with British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick each getting new stations with NRCan support

Natural Resources Canada today announced a new $2.4-million investment in 500 Level 2 chargers to be installed at Indigo Park Canada parking lots in six provinces.

Indigo Park Canada is a France-based international parking lot operator, with over 1,000 locations across Canada. The 500 chargers are being funded through NRCan’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) and Indigo is matching the investment with a further $2.4 million, bringing the total cost of the project to $4.8 million.

“It is a great honour to facilitate the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations in our parking facilities from Halifax to Victoria with the Government of Canada’s support.  As an owner and operator of parking facilities across Canada, we know that accessibility plays an important strategic role in the expansion of that network,” said John Laires, CEO of Indigo Park Canada in a press release.

The 500 chargers are anticipated to be online by March 2024.

Indigo and EVs

The latest investment from the federal government is the most public EV initiative Indigo Park Canada has had, but it isn’t the first time they have dabbled in EVs.

Already the parking lot operator offers EV charging at select locations. And, in 2021, Indigo partnered with Toronto-based e-scooter operator Bird Canada to offer e-scooter access and charging locations at Indigo parking lots in Ottawa and Calgary.

The deal was renewed in Calgary this July for Stampede.

“Indigo is a forward thinking company that truly understands the needs of the urban commuter. They’ve been instrumental in helping us to achieve our green mobility goals and further our business in key urban areas. They are a great partner for us and we continue to look for new ways to grow together,” said Stewart Lyons, CEO of Bird Canada in a press release at the time.

Indigo is also well established in Europe where it offers extensive electric vehicle charging options at its lots with a goal of 10,000 charging points across Europe by 2025, the majority of which would be in France.