infrastructure
CCIC Survey: Municipal Approval Delays Are the #1 Bottleneck for EV Charger Deployment in Canada
A new CCIC survey of nine operators and contractors across eight provinces found that 78% cite parking minimums as the top obstacle to public EV charger projects, with 54 sites abandoned over two years due to red tape.
The Canadian Charging Infrastructure Council (CCIC) published a new survey of nine organizations — seven charging operators or networks and two construction contractors with deployment experience across eight provinces — and the findings are blunt: municipal approval processes are the single biggest drag on public EV charger deployment in Canada.
The numbers behind the bottleneck
Key findings from the CCIC survey, conducted between August 13 and September 3, 2026:
- 78% of respondents identified municipal parking-minimum requirements as the most frequently cited obstacle to charger installation.
- 88% reported moderate-to-extreme differences in approval processes between municipalities within the same province.
- Ontario and Quebec were most frequently flagged as having the slowest approval timelines.
- Most respondents said obtaining municipal permits typically takes three to six months after signing a site host agreement.
- 89% believe parking-lot retrofit permits should be resolved in under three months.
Over the preceding 24 months, respondents reported abandoning 54 charging sites after securing host agreements. Of those, 10 were primarily attributed to municipal approval delays or denials, and 17 were linked to utility connection delays or costs.
What CCIC is asking for
The council published a companion municipal policy brief alongside the survey, recommending four concrete changes:
- Recognize EV charging stalls within existing parking-minimum requirements so they don't trigger additional lot-space mandates.
- Streamline approval processes for parking-lot retrofit projects.
- Publish clearer, standardized permit requirements across municipalities.
- Establish a three-month approval standard for retrofit permits.
"Municipalities have a real opportunity to use private investment to advance their environmental, economic, and equity goals," said Travis Allan, President and CEO of CCIC.
What this means for Canadian drivers
Every month a charger sits in permitting is a month Canadian EV owners face longer detours, higher per-kilometre charging costs, and more range anxiety on intercity routes. The survey data suggests that the bottleneck is not a lack of private capital or technology — it is the time between a signed site agreement and a live, plugged-in charger. For the 49,000 Chinese-made EVs now entering Canadian roads under the new tariff quota, and for the domestic models arriving in 2027, a faster permitting pipeline is not a nice-to-have; it is a prerequisite for the charging density those vehicles will need.
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