Nova Scotia·NewTwenty-nine chargers are now operating across the HRM. The chargers are of varying speeds and located at parks and community centres. Report says that chargers will ‘reduce range anxiety’Danielle Edwards · Danielle Edwards · Posted: Oct 15, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoHRM’s manager of clean energy says he expects all 56 chargers to be installed by around March 2027. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)Halifax has made up some ground in installing electric vehicle chargers across the municipality.A progress report released Sept. 25 says 29 chargers are now operating across the HRM. The chargers are of varying speeds and located at parks and community centres.“These accessible chargers help to reduce range anxiety and empower residents to transition to lower-carbon transportation,” the report reads.The city is behind on installation. In January 2024, the federal government announced 56 charging stations would be installed across the HRM by spring of that year, but they hadn’t started the installation process by that June.That lag is due, in part, to equipment delays and other hurdles, according to Kevin Boutilier, the municipality’s manager of clean energy.“We’re still very much committed to continuing to install and fill the gap in the infrastructure for folks so that they can make the transition to an electric vehicle,” Boutilier said.He said that the city expects all 56 chargers to be installed by around March 2027.More federal EV funding for Atlantic CanadaOutside of the HRM, Atlantic Canada, including Nova Scotia, recently received more than $5 million in federal funding to expand EV charging infrastructure by adding 157 chargers across the region.On Oct. 3, officials announced funding for five projects through Natural Resources Canada’s Zero Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Program.The funding will allow chargers to be installed at workplaces, on streets and at multi-unit residential buildings in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and P.E.I.Four of the five projects will be centred entirely in Nova Scotia. That represents nearly $4.1 million from the total amount of federal funding.The Nova Scotian recipients include Nova Scotia Power, which will be installing 60 Level 3 EV chargers in public spaces.Nikmaq Trading Inc. will be setting up 10 Level 3 chargers near the Halifax International Airport. Funding has also been allocated to Glooscap First Nation to install two Level 3 chargers at Glooscap Landing.Southwest Properties has gotten cash to install 20 Level 2 EV chargers at some of its multi-unit residential buildings.Councillor speaks on additional federal EV fundingThe funding going to Southwest Properties — a real estate development company based in Halifax — was a source of some contention at a recent city council meeting.Dartmouth Centre Coun. Sam Austin said during a meeting on Oct. 7 that the city could’ve been the one to mandate EV installations for developers in the municipality.“But instead we seem to have one order of government saying, ‘No, we’re not allowed to mandate that’, and then another order of government that is now going to subsidize … that is going to get the rest of us to pay for it,” he said. “So, yeah, great stuff.”This comes after the province rejected the city’s regional plan for growth in August, saying certain environmental rules will stall development.MORE TOP STORIES ABOUT THE AUTHORDanielle Edwards is a reporter with CBC Nova Scotia. She has previously worked at The Canadian Press in Halifax and the Globe and Mail in Toronto covering a variety of topics. You can reach her at danielle.edwards@cbc.ca
Halifax moves toward installing EV chargers across municipality
