Question Period Note: CANADA-ALBERTA BROADBAND PARTNERSHIP

What are the details of the Canada-Alberta broadband partnership announced March 9, 2022?

• High-speed Internet access is essential for all Canadians. That is why the Government of Canada has made billions of dollars available for rural and remote Internet infrastructure – including $3.225 billion under the Universal Broadband Fund.

• The government is proud to collaborate with Alberta to invest up to $780 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 Canada-Alberta broadband partnership announced on March 9, 2022, represents a plan to provide access to all households in Alberta that currently do not have access to 50/10 Mbps Internet service, approximately 200,000 households.
• This announcement builds on the Canada-Alberta broadband partnership initially announced in December 2021 where both levels of government allocated up to $300 million in joint funding. Recognizing the potential to do more and given the effectiveness of working together, both levels of government have increased their joint funding to up to $780 million.

• The Government of Canada is working hard with all provinces and territories to ensure that projects are announced across the country in the coming months.

• To date, the Universal Broadband Fund has announced more than $2 billion in funding to provide access to more than 900,000 households and more announcements are coming soon.

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 includes a Rapid Response Stream for shovel-ready projects that can be completed quickly, $50 million for mobile projects that primarily benefit Indigenous peoples, and $750 million for large, high-impact projects.
In addition to Alberta, the Government of Canada has announced other federal-provincial broadband partnerships with Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.
The Government of Canada’s funding of up to $390 million for the Canada-Alberta broadband partnership comes from the Universal Broadband Fund, and up to $390 million is being provided by Alberta
Under the Rapid Response Stream, $53.9 million in funding has been announced to cover over 25,600 households in Alberta with improved Internet access. This funding is included in the up to $390 million Government of Canada contribution to the Canada-Alberta broadband partnership.

Across all Government of Canada broadband programs since 2015, $463 million in funding has been announced to improve connectivity across the province.