Eaton is focused on investing in Canadian manufacturing, fostering charging partnerships, and supporting a more resilient grid

This article is Sponsor Content presented by Eaton and written by Wesley Agbogidi, product manager — EV Charging Infrastructure.

Canada’s electrification journey is at a pivotal moment.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced a temporary pause on the 2026 electric vehicle sales mandate, which would have required 20 per cent of new passenger vehicles sold to be zero-emission.

Some saw the decision as a setback, but at Eaton, we see it as a necessary move to ensure Canada’s EV transition is built on strong, sustainable foundations. The pause gives industry, policymakers, and communities time to better align incentives, supply chains, and infrastructure deployment.

At the same time, the government reaffirmed its longer-term goals of 60 per cent EV sales by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035. That clarity underscores that Canada is not stepping back from its climate and electrification ambitions but recalibrating to ensure the transition is practical, resilient, and designed for success.

Meeting these goals for electrification requires more than vehicles alone. Electrification is a systems challenge that touches manufacturing, energy, and grid resiliency.

This is where Eaton sees an opportunity to accelerate our own commitments to the energy transition. Our mission is to improve the quality of life and the environment using power management technologies and services. That vision is directly aligned with Canada’s climate goals and its evolving “Buy Canada” policy, which prioritizes industrial strategy and local manufacturing as part of the net-zero economy.

Commitment to Canadian manufacturing

For more than a century, Eaton has been manufacturing in Canada. Today, we operate multiple facilities across the country, providing local jobs and manufacturing the products that power homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

This year, we announced a major investment to expand one of our largest low-voltage distribution assemblies (LVDA) plants in Milton, Ont. This facility produces the switchgears and distribution equipment that form the backbone of EV charging deployments, renewable integration, and grid modernization.

By expanding our footprint here at home, we ensure that the technologies driving electrification are designed, built, and supported in Canada, for Canadians.

Partnership in action

Electrification is not achieved by one company alone—it requires collaboration across the ecosystem. That’s why our partnership with ChargePoint is so important.

Together, Eaton and ChargePoint are delivering integrated hardware and software solutions that address every segment of EV charging:

• Homes: The ChargePoint Home Flex, now available through Eaton’s trusted distribution partners, delivers reliable, high-speed residential charging up to 50 amps.
• Multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs): Pairing Eaton’s load management technologies with ChargePoint’s platform allows condos and apartments to scale charging without overwhelming electrical capacity.
• Commercial and public sites: From retail centers to workplaces, we provide turnkey infrastructure—from switchgear to panel boards to chargers—ensuring uptime and scalability, designed for Canadian distribution with our new 600V DC chargers.
• Fleets: By combining Eaton’s expertise in microgrids and energy storage with ChargePoint’s fleet management tools, we enable operators to electrify while optimizing costs and aligning with duty cycles.

This partnership reflects the kind of alignment Canada needs during this pause: practical, scalable solutions that connect policy ambition with real-world deployment.

Building a smarter, resilient grid

The transition to EVs also means building a smarter, more resilient grid. Eaton’s grid-interactive technologies, including intelligent breakers, energy storage, and distributed energy resource (DER) integration, ensure that EV charging strengthens rather than strains the grid.

Through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and broader vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies, EVs are evolving from passive loads into bi-directional energy assets that can store and discharge power to support local facilities and overall grid stability.

Our V2X-capable chargers, built to ISO 15118-20 standards and compliant with IEEE 1547 and CSA interconnection rules, enable services such as demand response, renewable integration, peak shaving, and backup power within microgrids.

Together with ChargePoint, Eaton is deploying bidirectional chargers, grid-interactive switchgear, and digital energy management solutions—making EVs an active participant in decarbonization while enhancing reliability and resiliency for communities and businesses.

Looking ahead

The pause on the 2026 EV sales mandate creates space for the kind of long-term planning that will make electrification both achievable and sustainable.

At Eaton, we see this as an opportunity to strengthen our own commitments: investing in Canadian manufacturing, delivering grid-ready charging solutions, and collaborating with partners to accelerate the energy transition.

Canada’s electrification goals remain bold, and they remain so. With the right mix of policy, innovation, and domestic investment, we will meet them. Eaton is proud to play our part in helping power a cleaner, smarter, and more resilient future for all Canadians.