Canada Builds Chargers Faster Than Drivers Use Them

New Paren data shows Canadian charging supply growing even as utilization falls.

15 Jul 2026

Canada's charging operators have a puzzle on their hands. They kept building through the second quarter of 2026 even as usage of what they had already built slipped, according to Paren's latest quarterly report. Between April and June, operators opened 390 new DC fast charging ports across 99 stations, a 30 percent jump over the same period last year, led by Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

National utilization eased to 9.5 percent, down from 11.3 percent in the first quarter. It is the first sustained decline after roughly a year hovering near 11 to 12 percent. Paren pins the drop mainly on newly energized ports that take several quarters to reach mature usage, compounded by softer EV sales after 2025's incentive cuts. Reliability, notably, held steady, with the national score edging up to just above 91.

Tesla remains the largest deployer by port count, yet it is steadily ceding share of new installations to Circuit Electrique, ChargePoint and Flo, along with newer entrants. Non-Tesla networks are also averaging more ports per new station than a year ago, pointing to a structural shift toward larger, multi-port sites rather than simple footprint growth.

Scott Sharabura, an EV infrastructure consultant who commented alongside the report, notes that investment decisions lock in years before a station opens. That timing gap explains why expansion continued through short-term demand softness. Operators treating charging as a long-horizon bet, rather than a quarterly demand play, appear best placed to absorb near-term utilization dips without slowing deployment.