The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) announced a financing agreement with Parkland Corporation, which operates the “On The Run” electric vehicle (EV) charging network in British Columbia and Alberta. The CIB will provide up to $210 million in funding to the company, marking its second major investment under the Charging and Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure (CHRI) initiative.
This infusion of cash will allow Parkland to expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging network across Canada, with plans to install up to 2,000 new EV charging ports at approximately 400 sites across the country.
By investing in charging infrastructure, we can support EV adoption and help to significantly reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions. Since the launch of our Charging and Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure initiative, we moved quickly to collaborate with the private sector and are nearing our initial investment target of $500 million. As part of the increased sector target for Green Infrastructure, which is now $10 billion, we will continue to meet the strong market demand for this initiative and expand the availability of charging infrastructure,” said Ehren Cory, CEO, Canada Infrastructure Bank.
The financing agreement is structured over an 18-year term, and includes financial terms tied to the utilization of the installed EV chargers. CIB will fund up to 80% of the capital deployed for charger installation over four years.
When Parkland launched its EV charging network in October 2022, the company originally planned to deploy ultra-fast charging stations at 25 Chevron gas stations and ON the RUN retail locations. However, Parkland announced an expansion late last year after receiving a $5 million grant from Natural Resources Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, along with an additional $1.8 million in funding from the Government of British Columbia, allowing it to double the number of fast-charging stations to 50.
Every On The Run station is equipped with FreeWire’s battery-integrated ultra-fast EV chargers, supporting both CHAdeMO (100kW) and CCS connectors (150kW). By utilizing integrated battery storage, Parkland can reduce their peak demand charges by pulling and storing electricity from the grid during times of lower demand.
This marks the second significant funding initiative by CIB for EV charging stations. In April Quebec’s FLO received $220 million build over 2,000 fast-charging ports across Canada by the year 2027.
