Oakville will stop expanding its public EV-charging network and lean on private operators
The Town will run its 46 public chargers until they wear out and turn to private operators to add more, after Council found the network running near 10 per cent use and a $38,000 annual loss.
The details
What Council decided
Oakville is getting out of the business of growing its own public electric-vehicle charging network. At its September 28 meeting, Council approved — as amended — a staff recommendation to step back from further expansion of the municipally owned public EV charging network, approved a corporate Carbon Offset Policy, and directed staff to report back on partnerships with private charging companies.
The existing network is not being switched off. The Town's chargers, most installed around 2023 with about a 10-year service life, will be run under a “run-to-failure” approach: kept in service until they stop working, with replacement decided site by site and private providers considered for priority locations.
The case staff made
Staff's argument was financial. Town chargers averaged about 10 per cent utilization against the roughly 30 per cent needed to recover costs, and the network ran a $38,000 deficit in 2025 that drew on the Parking Reserve. Building out the Town's share of projected 2040 demand would mean roughly $20 million in capital for Level 2 chargers and another $2.8 million for fast chargers, even after federal cost-sharing.
- Stop expanding the municipal public EV-charging network
- 46 of 286 public charging ports in Oakville
- About 10%, below the ~30% needed to break even
- $38,000 deficit on the Parking Reserve
- A reduce-first Carbon Offset Policy
What happens to charging now
Instead of building more itself, the Town will facilitate private investment — on Town property included — and ease permitting. A request for interest drew six proponents willing to partner on expansion. The separate Carbon Offset Policy commits the Town to a reduce-first approach, declining to buy or sell voluntary carbon offsets and treating them only as a last resort for emissions it cannot eliminate.