Quebec Premier François Legault announced the installation of 116,000 charging points for electric vehicles in his province by 2030.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government also wants to increase the number of electric parking spaces in multi-unit buildings by 600,000. It intends to spend $514 million over five years on this project.

“We hope that in major cities, with the public transport we are adding, one car will be enough, and perhaps no car at all,” said the Quebec Premier this morning.

“But in rural areas, we believe it will still be necessary to own at least one car, but we want the cars (in these areas) to be electric,” Legault added.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Benoit Charette, who was alongside the Premier, was not precise about how the new charging points would be deployed across the province.

“It’s not a distribution by area as much as it relates to the ability to meet the needs. The solution in Montreal will not be the same in rural areas (outside major urban centers). We want the right charging point in the right place,” said the Quebec Environment Minister.

This initiative aims to respond to the increase in the number of electric vehicles and thus to the growing need for charging points for these vehicles.

Quebec wants the number of electric vehicles on its roads to rise to two million by 2030. Legault believes that his government’s target is realistic, especially with the addition of new charging points.

Legault also confirmed that “the needs for the two million vehicles are now part of Hydro-Québec’s plans (the public electricity company in Quebec).”

The Quebec government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province by 37.5% by 2030 and to become the second-largest province in Canada by population and economic size to be carbon neutral by 2050.

In this regard, it is noted that earlier this week, the first factory for copper chips for electric vehicle batteries in Canada was announced to be established in the Quebec city of Granby.