Question Period Note: CANADA-PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND BROADBAND PARTNERSHIP

What are the details of the Canada-Prince Edward Island broadband partnership announced on June 2, 2022?

• High-speed Internet access is essential for all Canadians.

• That is why the Government of Canada is investing in rural and remote Internet infrastructure – including under the Universal Broadband Fund.

• The government is collaborating with Prince Edward Island to invest up to $20 million to provide high-speed Internet access to all underserved households in the province.

• The government is committed to providing access to 98% of Canadians by 2026. This can only be achieved through partnerships with other levels of government, the private sector, Indigenous groups, and other stakeholders.

The $3.225 billion Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) will help ensure that 98% of Canadians have access to high-speed Internet by 2026, and 100% by 2030. The UBF included a Rapid Response Stream (RRS) for shovel-ready projects that could be completed quickly, $50 million for mobile projects that primarily benefit Indigenous peoples, and $750 million for large, high-impact projects.
The government has leveraged nearly $2 billion in provincial funding from broadband partnerships with Ontario, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec, to connect even more households than with UBF funding alone.
The Government of Canada’s funding of $10 million for the Canada-PEI broadband partnership comes from the Universal Broadband Fund, and $10 million comes from PEI.
The $20 million Canada-PEI partnership does not include 3 UBF projects that were announced prior to the partnership. So far under the UBF, over $1.5 million in federal funding has been announced for 3 projects targeting more than 2,000 households. Projects under the partnership will be announced soon.
Across all Government of Canada broadband programs since 2015, over $46 million in funding has been announced for connectivity projects in PEI.

• The Canada-Prince Edward Island broadband partnership announced on June 2, 2022, will provide high-speed Internet access to approximately 2,000 households in Prince Edward Island (PEI). This agreement represents a plan to provide access to all remaining underserved households in PEI, in conjunction with PEI’s Broadband Fund.
• 97.2% of households now have access to high-speed Internet in PEI, compared to 59.8% in 2017.

• To date, the government has announced over $2.4 billion in funding under the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) to provide high-speed Internet access to more than 924,000 households and more announcements are coming soon.