Education and Awareness Project Funding – Electric Vehicle Test Drives and Charging Education

• The applicant must be an organization or legal entity that is validly incorporated or registered in Canada (for-profit or not-for-profit), such as a private sector company, utility, industry association, research/standards organization, Indigenous/community group, academic institution, or a provincial/territorial/regional/municipal government entity.
• International for-profit or not-for-profit legal entities incorporated or registered abroad may also apply (e.g., private sector companies, industry associations, research/standards organizations, academic institutions).
• The project must measurably increase public, industry, and/or local government knowledge and confidence related to light-duty electric vehicle charging, charging infrastructure, and vehicle ownership/operation, and must include charging education.
• The project must align with at least one eligible area of focus: (1) EV test drives and experiential charging education, or (2) resources and education for “enablers” (e.g., corporate decision-makers, fleet managers, municipal planners/governments, EV salespeople, utilities, schoolteachers, first responders).
• The project must be national in reach or regionally focused on an underserved region of Canada (Territories, Prairie Provinces, Atlantic Canada, rural areas, or marginalized/racialized urban communities).

Who is eligible?

• Electricity or gas utilities
• Private sector companies
• Industry associations
• Research associations
• Standards development organizations

Who is not eligible

• Softwood lumber companies, and companies that are vertically integrated with softwood lumber companies.

Eligible geographic areas

• Canada (projects must be national in reach).
• Underserved regions of Canada, including: Territories.
• Underserved regions of Canada, including: Prairie Provinces.
• Underserved regions of Canada, including: Atlantic Canada.
• Underserved regions of Canada, including: Rural areas in Canada.
• Underserved regions of Canada, including: Marginalized or racialized urban communities in Canada.

• A call for proposals is expected to open in the coming weeks.
• Successful projects are anticipated to start in spring 2026 and end no later than September 30, 2027.
• Projects may begin after receiving a Letter of Conditional Approval from NRCan (before signing the contribution agreement), but any costs incurred before the agreement is signed are not eligible for NRCan reimbursement.
• NRCan service standards include assessing applications and issuing an approval/rejection notification within 100 days of the call for proposal deadline (under normal circumstances).