Canadian Legislative Issues

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On April 14, Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal, revealed his intentions on increasing significantly the number of electric cars in the city and in turn reducing 30percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

The target is to have 1000 car-sharing electric vehicles in the streets of Montreal by 2020. Communauto currently offers a fleet of 40 electric cars and will increase it up to 60 cars by this summer. The plan also intends on expanding the number of public charging stations in order to make electric cars more appealing and accessible.

"The green shift is there. As the capital of electrification, every time we have an opportunity [we have to ask], what does it mean concretely? And here you have an example," stated Mayor Coderre.

The Mayor’s plan is ambitious and is not unanimous amongst stakeholders as he wants to ensure a call for tenders and attract electric car-sharing companies in the city. However, there are already two local companies of car-sharing in Montreal (Communauto and Car2go) and willing to increase their electric vehicle fleet in order to reach the city’s goals.

Finally, electric vehicles are a priority for the Mayor of Montreal and could have a potential impact on fleet managers.



NB Power, leading electrical utility in New Brunswick, wishes to increase the use of electric cars in the province and in order to do so it is offering free public electric charging stations.

The company currently offers seven public charging stations in the province where electric vehicle drivers can recharge their car for free and in turn encourage a shift to electric vehicle use.

"We want to make it easy for New Brunswickers to adopt electric car technology," declared Meghan Gerrish, NB Power spokesperson. "There are not that many electric car owners at this point, but as prices continue to fall, and we get more renewable resources on the grid, then it's something we hope picks up in the future."

In sum, Canadian provinces are increasingly shifting towards electric vehicles and could have a potential impact on fleet managers.
 

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