Manitoba, Sask. get $2.5M in federal funding for electric vehicle chargers

Manitoba and Saskatchewan will get $2.5 million in funding to install 400 new charging stations for electric vehicles in public places, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The federal government has partnered with Manitoba Motor Dealers Association and Eco-West Canada — a Manitoba-based non-profit that focuses on green economy infrastructure — to help support the installation of the charging stations, said Terry Duguid, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment and climate change.

"The price of filling up your car is a major item in most Canadians' budget these days, and how we move people and goods within our communities and across the country accounts for 25 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions," the Winnipeg South member of Parliament told reporters during a news conference at the University of Manitoba. 

The $2.5 million is coming from the federal government's Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program. The Liberal government has previously said that by 2035, all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada must be zero emission.

The chargers will be installed in public places, such as residential buildings and workplaces, by the end of 2023.