Question Period Note: Connectivity in the North

• The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced and highlighted the connectivity gap in the North and its far-reaching impacts on the regional economy and access to essential services.
• In April 2021, the Government of Canada proposed to invest $2.75 billion through the Universal Broadband Fund to help connect 98 percent of Canadians by 2026 with the goal of connecting all Canadians by 2030. This builds on the $6.2 billion the federal government and federal agencies have made available for universal broadband since 2015.
• An integral part of the Universal Broadband Fund is the Rapid Response Stream. In May 2021, just six months after the launch of the program, we announced that we are investing $6.9 million to connect over 15,000 households in Nunavut to high-speed internet.

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If pressed on the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework
• The Arctic and Northern Policy Framework gives us a roadmap to achieve a shared vision of the future where Northern and Arctic people can thrive.
• Implementation of the Framework is initially focused on the co-development of national and regional governance approaches and on plans to implement and make progress on the Framework goals and objectives.
• The collaboration established through the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework is supporting our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.