Question Period Note: HIGH-SPEED INTERNET INVESTMENTS IN ONTARIO

What investments have been made in broadband in Ontario since 2015?

• Reliable high-speed Internet is a necessity.

• For people and businesses in rural areas, it removes barriers to equal participation in the economy.

• It also gives people from all backgrounds and cultures access to the information, resources and services they need to participate more fully in society.

• That’s why the Government of Canada has made billions of dollars available to help ensure all Canadians have access to fast and reliable Internet.

• Since 2015, the government has approved $928 million for broadband projects in Ontario, which will connect more than 392,000 households – with more to come.

• In July 2021, the Governments of Canada and Ontario announced a joint investment of more than $1.2 billion to connect nearly 280,000 under-served households in Ontario.

• The federal government has also announced more than $61 million to connect 32,000 households in Ontario through the Universal Broadband Fund’s Rapid Response Stream.

• 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.

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 substantially improving speeds being offered; and
• Up to $50 million for mobile Internet projects that primarily benefit Indigenous peoples.

In July 2021, the Government of Canada and Government of Ontario announced an agreement to connect more than 280,000 underserved households in Ontario through a joint investment of $1.2 billion total. The investment supports large-scale, fibre-based projects that will provide high-speed Internet access to hundreds of communities throughout Ontario by 2025.

• As of January 2022, the federal government has not yet released any project-specific details about the 58 projects that were part of this announcement.
• The province of Ontario did release the household numbers and community names associated with this announcement but not the names of the Internet Service Providers delivering projects.

Connect to Innovate (CTI): Budget 2016 provided $500 million to establish the CTI program, which received an $85 million top-up in Budget 2019. As a result, 750 communities and 250,000 households across Canada are on track to benefit from improved Internet connectivity by the end of 2021. CTI will bring improved Internet speeds to over 975 rural and remote communities across Canada. In the province of Ontario, $91 million in funding was awarded for 24 projects that have the potential to improve speeds for 33,000 households. Approved projects must be completed by March 31, 2023.

Other Government of Canada programs are also making significant contributions to high-speed internet in Ontario. Infrastructure Canada’s Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component Small Communities Fund (PTIC–SCF) approved more than $65 million for internet projects that will connect more than 53,000 households in Ontario. It is a sub-program of the 2014 New Building Canada Fund program that supports infrastructure projects that deliver on local needs in communities with a population of less than 100,000. This program is scheduled to end in 2023-2024, and no additional project proposals are being accepted under this program.

Indigenous Services Canada operates a number of programs that fund projects that increase connectivity in Indigenous communities. Among these programs, the First Nations Infrastructure Fund has made the largest investment in internet infrastructure in Ontario. It provides funding to improve the quality of life and the environment for First Nations communities by addressing the longstanding infrastructure gaps on reserves in eight project categories, including connectivity. In Ontario, it has approved more than $9.7 million for projects that will connect more than 2,800 households.