B.C. changes electric vehicle charging rules for stratas

More British Columbians who own electric vehicles (EV) will soon be able to charge their rides at home, with the province announcing new rules around strata approval.

The B.C. government explains an amendment to the current legislation will help reduce barriers for people converting to EVs.

“Many B.C. strata residents are eager to make the switch to electric vehicles, but the lack of charging stations in their buildings is holding them back,” Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon said in a release Thursday.

“Our government is committed to help people reduce their carbon footprints by improving access to EV charging stations in residential buildings. That’s why we’ve introduced legislation to make it easier for strata corporations to greenlight charging stations.”

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The province’s new rules will also lower the voting threshold from 75 per cent to 50 per cent for approving charging stations on common and personal property, something that one business owner says will make a big difference.

“From what we’ve seen in the marketplace there’s a lot of people who are very interested in EV charging and having your own charger at home, so we know that with legislation changing to 50 per cent approval it will help,” Ryan Chan, the co-owner of ChargeFWD, explained.

“Not only does [it give more] EV owners more rights to install a charger at home, but it also gives people more access to these rebates.”

ChargeFWD co-owner Patrick Breuer says the move is a big win for EV owners. He tells CityNews he would like to see the momentum continue.

“If we really want to do this energy transition, then I think just ramping those policies and, you know, holding the line,” he said.

Chan says they have faced challenges getting charging infrastructure installed, adding this will help open doors.

“About a month ago we were just talking to another strata council, and we lost, we lost the EV charging project by one vote,” Chan explained.

The changes will also require stratas to obtain electrical planning reports to help understand the building’s electrical capacity.

Additionally, strata will have to approve owners’ requests to install EV chargers at the owner’s expense when reasonable criteria are met.

The province says the number of electric cars on B.C. roads has increased from 5,000 in 2016 to more than 109,000 at the end of 2022.