ChargeYYC is a pilot program from the city to help multi-unit residential building residents install home EV charging

The City of Calgary is tackling the issue of access to charging in condos, apartments, townhouses and rowhouses by offering a new grant to help offset the cost of developing a charging installation plan.

Starting today, Phase 1 of the ChargeYYC program is opening its first call for applications from multi-unit residential building (MURB) residents in Calgary wanting to install EV charging.

In the first phase, the program is providing up to $4,000 or 50 per cent of the total cost (whichever is lower) of developing an EV Charging Road Map to 60 successful applicants.

“An EV Charging Road Map is a customized technical plan for an existing multi-residential property to install electric vehicle charging,” explains the ChargeYYC website.

“If approved, you must hire a qualified professional to create an EV Charging Road Map within 6 months of being approved.”

The Road Map must be completed by a licensed engineer or electrician in Alberta. Meanwhile, the grant is only open to MURB residents with explicit permission from their property owners to install EV charging.

MURB charging access

Access to charging for MURB residents is a consistent barrier to adoption across Canada.

Currently there are no federal building codes that require new or existing buildings to be “EV-ready” with access to charging. Responsibility to create building requirements for EV-readiness is, instead, falling to provinces and, more often, to individual municipalities.

This has led to a fragmented and inconsistent experience for MURB residents seeking EV charging.

There are no provincial codes in Alberta requiring buildings to be EV-ready. However, in Calgary’s 2023-2026 Climate Implementation Plan, the city recommends all new residential buildings be EV-ready and commercial buildings be 10 per cent EV-ready with 90 per cent conduit system (wiring for EV charging) partial readiness by 2026.

The ChargeYYC program is an initial step to supporting that goal.

“EVs are growing in popularity across Canada. In Calgary, we continue to see more EVs on our roads each year. Motor vehicles are a major contributor to Calgary’s greenhouse gas emissions. This makes programs like ChargeYYC essential for helping Calgarians prepare for the future of mobility and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” reads the website.

Future funding in Calgary

Census data from 2021 (the most recent available) shows 38 per cent of all occupied dwellings in Calgary are MURBs.

Consequently, the city anticipates interest in the program’s initial phase this year.

Then, in 2025, ChargeYYC Phase 2 funding will open.

In that funding round, successful applicants from Phase 1 who have an EV Charging Road Map assessment may be eligible to have their project installation funded in part by an additional grant.

“We want to learn how the project is received and works for initial applicants,” reads the website.

“These learnings will be applied to future phases or version of the program. The learnings will guide future City policies on EV charging at home and in public.”

The ChargeYYC forms are available here.