The Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., announced a $50,000 investment in Toronto’s Ecohive to raise awareness of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).

Ecohive is using the funding to develop Torque Network, a mobile application for the Electric Vehicle (EV) community. The new app will provide EV owners, enthusiasts and industry experts with a digital space to learn about EVs, grow their network and communicate with each other through chat features and moderated forums.

The app is now available on the Apple iOS store for download in Canada.

Federal funding is provided through Natural Resources Canada’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative, supporting the government’s target to have all new passenger vehicles sold in Canada be ZEVs by 2040.

More affordable EVs

The government has invested over $600 million to make EVs more affordable and charging infrastructure more accessible.

This includes establishing a coast-to-coast network of fast chargers and installing chargers in localized areas.

This investment supports natural gas refuelling stations along key freight corridors, hydrogen stations in metropolitan centres, the demonstration of next-generation charging technologies and the development of enabling codes and standards.

The government is providing incentives of up to $5,000 to increase affordability for Canadians to buy EVs and full tax write-offs for businesses purchasing them.

These initiatives complement Canada’s climate plan, A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy, which will further accelerate ZEV adoption through an additional $150 million for infrastructure and an additional $287 million for purchasing incentives for Canadians.

The government continues to support green infrastructure projects, aiming to create middle-class jobs, advance Canada’s low-carbon future and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.