New Tesla Chargers Spark Parking Debate in Canmore

What’s Happening? Tesla has nearly completed construction on a new 12-stall Supercharger station in Canmore—the town’s third. Located behind the Canmore Gateway Shoppes at 802 Bow Valley Trail (aka the Circle K/KFC/Anytime Fitness lot), the new V4 chargers bring the total number of Tesla stalls in town to 24, all within a 2km stretch.

Why It Matters. Canmore is a high-traffic stop for road-tripping EV drivers heading through the Rockies. This added capacity could ease congestion and reduce ICEing issues (when gas vehicles block EV stalls), which have plagued one of the town’s older stations. And by placing the new chargers at the rear of a quieter parking lot, not in front of a popular restaurant, Tesla may finally have found a less controversial home.

Local Reaction: Fully Charged. Not everyone’s celebrating. In a fiery Facebook thread, some residents welcomed the move toward more sustainable infrastructure. Others, however, saw red over the loss of parking. “10 stations?” one wrote. “Loss of 12 parking spaces…” Others questioned whether the project used public funds, citing Canmore’s Electric Vehicle Public Charger Incentive, a program offering up to $10K for Level 2 chargers. But there’s no public record confirming Tesla received this funding, and these fast-charging V4 Superchargers aren’t covered by that program’s guidelines.

Zooming Out. Whether you see it as progress or parking theft, the EV wave in Canmore is gaining momentum. The town’s infrastructure is changing, sometimes faster than locals are ready for. But with federal targets pushing for all new vehicles to be electric by 2035, this might just be the beginning of a much larger shift.