Rural communities to benefit from increased connectivity to high-speed internet
Ontario – All Canadians need access to reliable high-speed internet, no matter where they live. The governments of Canada and Ontario are taking action to bring high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved communities across Ontario.
Anita Anand, President of the Treasury Board, and Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, on behalf of Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, together with Kinga Surma, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure, and Donna Skelly, Member of Provincial Parliament for Flamborough–Glanbrook, announced over $219 million in combined federal and provincial funding for Rogers to bring high-speed internet access to more than 66,000 households in over 300 Ontario communities, including over 600 Indigenous households.
The projects being announced today are part of an existing partnership between Ontario and Canada. On July 29, 2021, the governments announced a Canada–Ontario broadband partnership to support large-scale, fibre-based projects that will provide high-speed internet access to more than 280,000 households across the province. This historic agreement was made possible by a joint federal-provincial investment totalling more than $1.2 billion.
Today’s announcement builds on the Government of Canada’s progress toward ensuring that 98 per cent of Canadians have access to high-speed internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030. The announcement also brings the Government of Ontario closer to achieving its goal of bringing reliable high-speed internet access to every community in the province by the end of 2025.