Lakehead University held a grand opening of electric vehicle charging stations on Friday, March 10

Dr. Moira McPherson, Lakehead's President and Vice-Chancellor, third from right, cut the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of electric vehicle charging stations now available at the Thunder Bay campus. Also participating from left to right, are Devon Lee, Lakehead's Sustainability Coordinator; Kirsten Kabernick, Project Coordinator with the CEDC; Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead's Vice-President, Research and Innovation; Dr. David Barnett, Lakehead's Provost and Vice-President (Academic); Hugh Briggs, Director of Physical Plant at Lakehead; and Ken Shields, an organizer with the Electric Vehicle Association of Northern Ontario.

March 9, 2023 – Thunder Bay, Ont. 

On Friday, March 10, at 12 pm, as part of Lakehead University’s participation in the first-ever SDG Week Canada, Lakehead held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at the Lot 9 charging stations, near the ATAC building.  

Local EV owners were in attendance from noon until 2 pm for campus and community members took part in an informal electric vehicle car show. 

In collaboration with the Thunder Bay CEDC and Plug-In Thunder Bay, Lakehead University announced the procurement and installation of eight Level 2 ChargePoint chargers with 16 electric vehicle connectors as part of YOCA - the Year of Climate Action in 2021/2022.  

With the continuous commitment through Lakehead’s Sustainable Building Policy that requires all new construction and major renovations to be built to LEED gold standards or higher and the multi-dimensional Sustainability Plan, the university is a leader in climate action and sustainability.  

On November 26, 2020, Lakehead became only the sixth Canadian university to commit to divestment from the Carbon Underground 200. 

“We need to rapidly decarbonize transportation,” said Devon Lee, Lakehead’s Sustainability Coordinator. “Lakehead’s EV chargers will assist the university and community in making this transition.” 

Lakehead is among the top employers in Thunder Bay and the university provides some of the largest on-site public parking facilities in the city.  

“Located in highly visible and central locations, these chargers signal Lakehead’s ongoing commitment to becoming a more environmentally-friendly campus and leaders in the field of climate action,” said Hugh Briggs, Director of Physical Plant.  

The University has thousands of employees, students and visitors who use 3,200 parking spaces at close to 100 percent capacity. By installing EV charging stations on campus, Lakehead University is providing a central and much-needed public EV charging hub in Thunder Bay.  

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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 10,000 students in THE’s 2022 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.