Strata EV charging plans: what councils need to know in 2026

Most stratas add EV charging in three steps: a plan, the electrical backbone to the stalls, then chargers. Rebates may be available; we'll check for your building. Where they are, the order matters, and a plan commissioned before approval may not qualify.

Rebates and approvals

Where rebates are available, the usual order is: apply for approval, commission the plan, then complete it within the program's time limit. Charger rebates usually need an approved plan first. CRD stratas also face a December 31, 2026 deadline for their Electrical Planning Report.

Rebate amounts and rules change, and programs can end. Confirm what's available for your building before council votes. We'll check for you.

The backbone makes every stall ready for a charger, with an energized outlet or junction point at each one. Owners add chargers later, on their own timeline and at their own cost.

Plan, infrastructure, chargers

Step 1: The plan. A study of your building, prepared by a qualified electrical contractor or engineering firm. It uses metered load data to find spare capacity, then lays out a design for every eligible stall, a load-management strategy, cost estimates and an approach council can vote on.

The cost of a plan depends on the size of the building, how many stalls it covers and how much load data is available.

Step 2: Infrastructure. New parkade distribution panel(s), feeders, cable tray or conduit to the stalls, metering or cost-allocation hardware, and the load-management system. This is the expensive part.

Step 3: Chargers. Owners (or the strata, for visitor and shared stalls) install chargers on the backbone. Each install is then a small job.

Phasing a 60-stall parkade

A composite CRD example: a 1990s concrete mid-rise with 60 stalls on two parkade levels and a 600A service. After elevators, ventilation and domestic hot water, maybe 150A is spare.

Sixty stalls at 32A is far more than that, and the service upgrade to cover it is out of reach. The plan phases it instead:

1. Phase 1: backbone (months 1–4). New EV distribution board fed from spare capacity, a load-management controller, cable tray across both levels, and stub-ups to the first stalls. Core drilling and a couple of planned outages, once.
2. Phase 2: energize every stall (months 4–8). Branch wiring to an outlet or junction box at all 60 stalls. It's all behind the load-managed board, so no extra utility capacity is needed.
3. Phase 3: chargers, from then on. Owners add chargers as they buy EVs. With a few EVs, each charges quickly. As more are added, each charges more slowly, and most still finish overnight.

Infrastructure cost is mostly driven by the number of stalls, parkade layout, fire-stopping and distance from the electrical room. The plan gives your building its own number. Any rebates your building qualifies for reduce the special levy.

Phasing also makes the vote easier. Council approves a small plan cost, takes real numbers to a general meeting, and passes the levy with any rebates approved.

Load management vs service upgrade

Every building's plan decides whether to share existing capacity or buy more. BCEC 2024 Section 86 recognizes electric vehicle energy management systems (EVEMS), so sharing is the default for existing buildings.

• Load management (EVEMS) divides spare capacity among active chargers. No BC Hydro service work, no transformer lead times, much lower cost. Per-car speed drops as more owners get EVs, so design for the end state and tell owners to expect a full charge by morning, not the fastest charge.
• Service upgrade means a bigger service, sometimes a new transformer and civil work on BC Hydro's side. More headroom, but by far the most expensive route, before any parkade distribution, plus utility design queues and transformer lead times. Many buildings don't need it.
• The hybrid: load management on the existing service now, with tray, conduit and board positions laid out for a later upgrade. The plan sets the EV demand level at which the upgrade starts.

Be wary of a service-upgrade quote that doesn't come with a year of interval data, and of a load-management design that doesn't plan for most stalls having an EV. Our commercial and strata services page covers how we run these projects, from plan and rebate paperwork through construction and charger installs.

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