Question Period Note: HIGH SPEED INTERNET IN THE NORTH

What is the Government of Canada doing to support access to high speed Internet infrastructure in the North?

• The Government of Canada is investing billions of dollars to help ensure that all Canadians have access to the fast and reliable Internet they need to live, work and access essential services.

• Since 2015, the government has announced over $337 million for connectivity projects in the North.

• This includes $30 million for the Dempster Fibre Project, which will improve connectivity throughout the North. Construction on the Dempster Fibre Project is well underway.

• The government has also invested $1.44 billion to support Telesat’s Low-Earth Orbit satellite constellation and entered into a $600 million agreement with Telesat to secure Internet capacity for hard-to-reach communities.

• In total, $2.75 billion will be made available through the Universal Broadband Fund to support Canadians’ high-speed needs in rural and remote communities.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed how Canadians live, work, learn, and do business. This makes it more important than ever that Canadians, including those living in the far North, have access to fast and reliable high-speed Internet.

• The government is looking at all options to get Canadians connected as quickly as possible to help close the connectivity gap.

• In this regard, advanced technologies such as Low Earth Orbit satellites will play an important role in connecting the hardest to reach rural and remote areas, including in the far North.

• The government recognizes that the Dempster Fibre project has experienced delays, however construction is now underway. The scope and scale of this project required extensive review and planning, including environmental assessment and Indigenous consultations, before construction could begin. The government looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Government of Yukon to ensure its timely completion.

Since 2015, the Government of Canada has committed over $337 million for 13 connectivity projects in the territories.

Government funding has often been needed to build and sustain Internet infrastructure projects in the North given the region’s climate, terrain and vast distances, which often make terrestrial infrastructure like fibre optic cable especially challenging. Key initiatives include:

Universal Broadband Fund (UBF): Budget 2021 added $1 billion to bring the UBF total to $2.75 billion toward bringing 50/10 Mbps service to 98% of Canadians by 2026 and all Canadians by 2030, which includes:
• A Rapid Response Stream for shovel-ready projects that can connect households quickly;
• Up to $750 million for large, high-impact projects that are transformative in nature, for example connecting large numbers of households or large geographic areas, or will substantially improve speeds being offered; and,
• Up to $50 million for mobile Internet projects that primarily benefit Indigenous peoples.

UBF-RRS Progress to Date in the North

Each territory has its own unique context, and progress varies between them.

• To help bridge the digital divide, the UBF announced nearly $12 million in Rapid Response Stream funding for 3 projects in the North.

o $5 million in RRS funding has been announced for one project in the Northwest Territories that will deliver broadband internet to 152 households.
o $6.9 million in RRS funding has been announced for two projects in Nunavut that will improve Internet access for more than 9,800 households in the territory.

• No RRS funding announced for projects in Yukon.

CRTC Broadband Fund: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) $750 million Broadband Fund also helps to improve connectivity across the country. Under the first Call for Proposals, the first five selected Broadband Fund projects were awarded up to $72.1 million in funding to bring high-quality broadband Internet services to some of the most remote areas in Canada. The focus was on territories and satellite-dependent communities.

LEO satellite developments: The government has partnered with Telesat and invested, through Budget 2019, up to $600 million to secure Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite capacity over Canada to serve rural and remote northern communities. These satellites will provide high-bandwidth, low-latency broadband internet coverage to rural and remote regions of Canada, including the North. On August 12, 2021, the government announced an agreement-in-principle with Telesat to invest $1.44 billion into Telesat’s advanced LEO satellite constellation, Telesat Lightspeed. This investment will advance Canadian leadership globally in a strategically important sector. Telesat has committed to ultimately connect approximately up to 40,000 households in rural and remote Canada.

Connect to Innovate (CTI): Budget 2016 provided $500 million to establish the CTI program, which received an $85 million top-up in Budget 2019. CTI will bring improved Internet speeds to over 975 rural and remote communities across Canada, including 39 northern communities. Approved projects must be completed by March 31, 2023.

Dempster Fibre Line: Under CTI, the Government of Yukon received $30 million to build an 800-kilometer long fibre optic line from Dawson City, Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The project will connect to two existing fibre lines to create a loop and provide communities along the loop with a backup line in the event of a service disruption. Currently, Northern communities depend on a single fibre optic line. When that line goes down, the region is largely cut off from the digital world. This fibre loop will provide more reliable Internet, cellular and essential government services throughout the region. In July 2021, the Government of Yukon announced that construction on the Dempster Fibre line had begun, with completion scheduled for 2024.