Canadian consumers are receiving maximum advertised Internet speeds

From: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

News release

September 8, 2020 – Ottawa-Gatineau – Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

Today, the CRTC released a new report which finds that the vast majority of participating Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs) have met or exceeded the maximum download and upload speeds they advertise.

The report demonstrates that the quality of Internet service is consistent across the participating ISPs, regardless of the time of day. The report also provides regional performance metrics and compares the performance of various forms of fixed and wired Internet technologies.

The data was collected from October 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019. The CRTC is currently collaborating with ISPs to continue to provide reliable and continuing analysis of Internet performance.

We encourage Canadians who are interested in participating in the next phase of the project to submit a request at Measuring Broadband Canada.

This report is the second edition to be published by the CRTC.

Quotes

“Over the last few months, Canadians have relied on their Internet services for nearly every facet of their daily lives as they avoided unnecessary trips outside of their homes. While the data was collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are encouraged by the results that show that Canadians generally receive the Internet speeds for which they pay. This report provides valuable insight on the performance of Internet services across Canada and will inform future policy decisions. We are grateful to the thousands of Canadians who volunteered for the Measuring Broadband Canada project, as well as the ISPs who contributed to the success of the project.”

- Ian Scott, Chairperson and CEO, CRTC

Quick facts

  • Participation by ISPs in the current study was voluntary. Participating ISPs were: Bell Aliant, Bell Canada, Bell MTS, Cogeco, Northwestel, Rogers, Shaw, TELUS and Vidéotron.

  • The Measuring Broadband Canada project helps Canadians, the CRTC and ISPs obtain independent, accurate and reliable data on the performance of broadband Internet networks.

  • Testing was performed by using a device called a ‘Whitebox.’, which connects to a customer’s router and performs routine tests that measure the quality of the customer’s Internet connection, including upload, download, and latency.

  • The Measuring Broadband Canada project is independent of the CRTC’s Broadband Fund.

  • SamKnows is a UK-based global leader in broadband measurement and has been working with governments, ISPs, content providers, application developers, consumer groups, and academics to accurately measure Internet performance since 2009.

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