Question Period Note: Broadband Funding to Provinces and Territories

How much broadband funding has been provided to provinces and territories that do not have federal-provincial agreements?

• Overall, $7.6 billion has been committed federally to improve connectivity for Canadians . Provinces and territories have joined us and also committed $6.4 billion to these efforts.

• As part of the roll out of the $3.225 billion, Universal Broadband Fund, significant funding agreements with Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island have been announced.

• The Government of Canada remains committed to its national target of providing high-speed Internet access to 98% of Canadian households by 2026, and 100% by 2030.

Broadband Funding Across Government Programs
Since 2015, the Government of Canada has made more than 7.6 billion dollars in funding available to improve access to high-speed Internet for all Canadians through various programs, including:

• The Universal Broadband Fund (UBF): The $3.225 billion UBF is helping to bring 50/10 Mbps Internet service to 98% of Canadian households by 2026 and all Canadians by 2030. Projects selected to proceed under the UBF can be viewed on the UBF selected projects page.
• Connect to Innovate (CTI): Budget 2016 provided $500 million to establish the CTI program, which received an $85 million top-up in Budget 2019 to bring improved Internet speeds to over 975 rural and remote communities across Canada, including 190 Indigenous communities.
• The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) $750 million Broadband Fund (sourced from a levy on telecommunications service providers’ revenues) which is helping achieve universal access at speeds of 50/10 Mbps, as well as mobile coverage along major roads.
• The Canada Infrastructure Bank’s (CIB) $2 billion in financing for large, high-impact broadband projects.

• Since 2015, the Government of Canada has announced over $3.6 billion in funding for projects across the country to improve connectivity. Of that funding, over $825 million has been announced for Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

• The government recognizes that close collaboration with other levels of government, the private sector, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders will be essential to achieve the national target of universal access to high-speed Internet by 2030.

The government is on track to meet the national targets of providing access to 98% of Canadians by 2026 and 100% by 2030. To date, 93.5% of Canadian homes have access to high-speed Internet.