Question Period Note: CANADA-BRITISH COLUMBIA BROADBAND PARTNERSHIP

What are the details of the Canada-British Columbia broadband partnership announced March 8, 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 British Columbia to invest up to $830 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 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 $415 million for the Canada – BC broadband partnership comes from the Universal Broadband Fund, and British Columbia funding of $415 million comes from the Connecting British Columbia program.
Under this $830 million partnership targeting 115,000 households, 50 projects have been announced that will bring high-speed connectivity to more than 26,000 households, including more than 2000 Indigenous households, and improved mobile service to 340 km of road.
Under the Mobile Stream, the Government of Canada and British Columbia announced co-funding of $4.5 million total to provide complete mobile connectivity along BC’s Highway 16, also known as the “Highway of Tears”. This funding is included in the up to $415 million Government of Canada contribution to the Canada-BC broadband partnership.
Across all Government of Canada broadband programs since 2015, over $533 million in funding has been announced for connectivity projects in BC.

• The Canada-British Columbia broadband partnership announced on March 8, 2022, represents a plan to connect the approximately 115,000 households in BC that currently do not have access to high-speed Internet service.
• Today, 96.4% of households have access to high-speed Internet in BC, compared to 92.3% in 2017.

• To date, the government has announced over $2.4 billion in funding under the Universal Broadband Fund to provide high-speed Internet access to over 924,000 households.