No matter where you live, access to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet is essential. That’s why the Government of Canada is working with provinces and territories, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and large and small Internet service providers to ensure that all Canadians are connected.
Honourable Gudie Hutchings, minister of rural economic development and minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, updated Canadians on the Government of Canada’s progress toward connecting all Canadians, no matter where they live, to high-speed Internet.
“High-speed Internet is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity. Thanks to our government, 93.5 per cent of Canadian households now have access to high-speed Internet, compared to just 79 per cent in 2014. We are on track to surpass our target of providing 98 per cent of Canadians with high-speed Internet access by 2026 and all Canadians by 2030. I will continue to make sure rural Canadians have the access they need to affordable high-speed Internet connectivity,” said Hutchings on Dec. 28.
Thanks to the $3.225 billion Universal Broadband Fund (UBF), as well as other federal and provincial investments, the federal government is on track to exceed its goal of providing access to high-speed Internet to 98 per cent of Canadian households by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030. Today, 93.5 per cent of Canadian households have access to high-speed Internet compared to just 79 per cent in 2014. Current projections show that 98.6 per cent of households will have access by 2026.
Since the launch of the UBF in November 2020, 295 projects have been announced across Canada. This includes 45 projects in 2023 alone, which will serve more than 200,000 households. In 2023, 40,000 households also gained new access to high-speed Internet through completed UBF projects. The Government of Canada looks forward to announcing more UBF projects through 2024. Projects are posted online as they are announced.
In June 2023, Hutchings launched the government’s redesigned website, canada.ca/rural. The interactive website is a source for rural Canadians to find relevant resources and information on Government of Canada programs, including the UBF.
To help meet connectivity targets faster, the Government of Canada has also entered into co-funding partnerships with several other provinces. With more than $2 billion in provincial co-funding secured, these partnerships allow for more households to be connected through UBF funding.
The Government of Canada is working closely with all provinces and territories to help connect remaining underserved households. For the latest information on Canada’s progress toward achieving universal high-speed Internet access, visit the interactive High-Speed Internet Access Dashboard. The dashboard allows Canadians to track national progress and government funding by province and territory.
These investments are making a real difference in peoples’ lives, by enabling them to access health care or expand their businesses.
Canada’s Connectivity Strategy aims to provide all Canadians with access to Internet speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download / 10 Mbps upload. Since 2015, the Government of Canada has allocated $7.6 billion for building or improving broadband Internet infrastructure from coast to coast to coast.
