Governments of Canada and Ontario invest over $362 million to bring high-speed Internet to Eastern Ontario

From: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

News release

August 6, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how much we rely on our Internet connections, making access to fast and reliable Internet service even more critical. For too long, many rural Canadians have lacked access to high-speed Internet, impacting their ability to work, learn and keep in touch with family and friends. The pandemic has made addressing this divide even more urgent. That’s why the governments of Canada and Ontario are accelerating their investments in broadband infrastructure.

Today, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and Member of Parliament for Peterborough–Kawartha, together with François Drouin, Member of Parliament for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell, and the Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure and Member of Provincial Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, highlighted a joint investment of $362 million to bring high-speed Internet to 90,124 rural Ontario households in Eastern Ontario.

This investment is being made as part of a joint federal-provincial agreement through which the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario have partnered to support large-scale, fibre-based projects that will provide high-speed Internet access to all corners of the province by 2025.

In addition, the Canada Infrastructure Bank is assessing opportunities proposed through the Universal Broadband Fund to provide additional financing on a project-by-project basis toward significant expansion of broadband in partnership with private and institutional investors.

Canada-wide, more than 890,000 rural and remote households are on track to be connected to high-speed Internet as a result of federal investments. At the end of March 2021, 175,000 rural and remote households had been connected to high-speed Internet under projects supported by the Government of Canada. By the end of this year, over 435,000 households will be connected thanks to support from the federal government.

This investment represents a concrete step forward that will move Ontario almost 40% of the way in its ambitious plan to achieve 100% connectivity for all regions in the province by the end of 2025. This investment builds on Ontario’s recently announced investment of up to $14.7 million for 13 new projects under the Improving Connectivity for Ontario (ICON) program. This will provide up to 17,000 homes and businesses with access to reliable high-speed Internet and build on a range of provincial initiatives under way that will connect another 70,000 homes and businesses.

Also part of Ontario’s plan to achieve 100% connectivity is a recently announced innovative procurement process that is being used to help connect the vast majority of the remaining underserved and unserved communities. Procurement under this delivery model, led by Infrastructure Ontario, will begin later this summer. Together, these initiatives are part of Ontario’s plan to help bring reliable high-speed Internet to more communities across Ontario.

Today’s announcement builds on the progress the governments of Canada and Ontario have already made to improve critical infrastructure in Ontario. This includes leveraging over $30 billion in federal, provincial and partner funding for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). This investment supports over 265 local transit projects; 140 projects in rural and northern areas; over 70 green infrastructure projects; and over 270 community, culture and recreation projects. Also, as part of ICIP, Ontario launched the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure stream with combined federal and provincial funding of $1.05 billion. This includes up to $250 million in federal and provincial funding for municipalities to address critical local infrastructure needs to improve health and safety.

Quotes

“Access to high-speed Internet will create jobs, improve health and safety for all, and help bridge the rural-urban divide. The pandemic added urgency to this work, and the Government of Canada responded with the Universal Broadband Fund. Our government’s investments to date have helped connect 175,000 households to high-speed Internet. By this Christmas, 435,000 households that didn’t have high-speed Internet last Christmas will be connected. That number will grow to more than 700,000 by the end of 2022, and to more than 800,000 by the end of 2023. The agreement announced today will help nearly 280,000 households benefit from this essential service, including 90,124 households in Eastern Ontario. On behalf of the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada, I would like to thank all our partners for their hard work. We won’t stop until every Canadian has access to high-speed Internet.”
– The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and Member of Parliament for Peterborough–Kawartha

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that Internet access is essential for our communities and for our sustainable economic recovery. Today we are announcing that more than 90,000 homes will be connected. This is the result of many years of work with our partners, and today, the residents of Eastern Ontario are reaping the benefits.”
– Francis Drouin, Member of Parliament for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell

“Our government is taking another step forward in its bold plan to bring high-speed Internet to every community in the province by the end of 2025. Our latest investment to make high-speed Internet accessible to more homes and businesses will make a positive difference in the lives of countless families and individuals in Eastern Ontario. By working together with our federal partners, we’ve achieved another important milestone in building a stronger, more connected, Ontario.”
– The Honourable Kinga Surma, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure and Member of Provincial Parliament for Etobicoke Centre

Quick facts

  • Since 2015, Government of Canada investments have helped more than 175,000 rural and remote households across Canada gain access to high-speed Internet.

  • The Government of Canada has committed $7.2 billion to broadband Internet infrastructure, including $2.75 billion through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF). 

  • These investments will help ensure that 98% of Canadians will have high-speed Internet access by 2026, and 100% will have access by 2030.

  • The Government of Ontario is helping to improve connectivity across the province. This is supported by a commitment of nearly $4 billion to ensure all Ontarians have access to high-speed Internet by the end of 2025.

  • The Government of Ontario has invested in initiatives to improve connectivity across Eastern and Southwestern Ontario. It has also invested in high-speed Internet projects in rural and Northern Ontario, such as through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and the Next Generation Network Program.

  • The Government of Ontario is also helping to speed up construction of broadband projects through the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021, which received royal assent this spring.

Contacts

Canada

Marie-Pier Baril
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development
613-295-8123
Marie-Pier.Baril@cfc-swc.gc.ca

Media Relations
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
343-291-1777
mediarelations-mediasrelations@ised-isde.gc.ca

Ontario

Hayley Cooper
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure
437-233-3224
hayley.cooper@ontario.ca  

Sofia Sousa-Dias
Communications Branch
Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure
437-991-3391
sofia.sousa-dias@ontario.ca

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