New legislation will make it easier for strata owners to install EV charging stations

Owning an electric vehicle (EV) will be a little easier for strata property owners, the province says, after announcing changes to legislation to facilitate the installation of charging stations in strata buildings.

On Thursday, the province said it would be making amendments to the Strata Property Act,the legal framework all strata corporations are required to follow.

Three areas will improve access to EV charging stations in strata complexes, the province says, including lowering the voting threshold from 75 per centto 50 per centfor approval of the costs andchanges to the property that are needed to install them, as well as requiringstrata corporations to have an electrical planning report to make installation of these stations easier.

The amendments would mean stratas would have to approve owners' requests for such charging stations as long as "reasonable criteria are met."

Ministerof Energy, Mines and Low Carbon InnovationJosie Osborne said people are more likely to buy an electric vehicle if they have the ability to charge it something that's lacking for many British Columbians living in multi-unit residences.

"B.C. has one of the largest public electric vehicle charging networks in Canada, but we need to make it easier for more people to charge their EVs at home," Osborne said in a statement.

Tony Gioventu, the executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C., said the new legislation strikes a balance between allowing people access to EV charging stations while also ensuring stratas still have control over their properties.

This is just the latest step in the B.C. government's move to get more EVs on the road:in 2019, the province passed theZero-Emission Vehicles Act, which aims for10 per cent of all new light-duty cars and trucks soldin B.C. to be zero emission by 2025. By 2040, they'll all need to be emission-free.

Last year, it was announced that anyone buying a usedEV would be exempt from paying sales tax until 2027.